


Of Blood and Bonds

by Arya_RG_Nwright



Category: DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Gen, MariBat, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23755501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arya_RG_Nwright/pseuds/Arya_RG_Nwright
Summary: What if Marinette was Bruce Wayne biological daughter? And what if Paris got so so much worse? And of course how can we forget the obligatory trip to Gotham! I won't say much more, you'll have to read to find out!
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Bruce Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki
Comments: 84
Kudos: 777





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.   
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

Marinette had punched Bruce Wayne. 

Marinette had punched Bruce Wayne, Prince of Gotham, in Wayne Enterprises Tower in Gotham City and she was probably going to get kicked out because of this but it was so worth it. 

"Marinette honey," He said cautiously, "I'm sure I deserve it but why?"

She clenched her jaw and took a few deep breaths as she opened and closed her fists. She was trying really hard not to punch him again. 

You won't be able to get a second shot in without the boys intervening. She told herself, eying the way the boys - her brothers, she reminded herself stood, ready to pounce on her at any instant.  
She had no doubt that the only reason she wasn't being restrained yet was because they were too shocked to react. 

"I don't think I asked for much Dad." She practically snarled the words out. "I just asked for a few phone calls and yet-" Her voice was shaking. "Yet, I haven't heard from you in over three years."

"Mari I can expl-"

"No, no, you don't fucking have that right to anymore. I did not come to Gotham to ask an explanation or beg for your attention. This was an unfortunate coincidence. I would have been perfectly happy to never see or hear from you again."

She turned to leave but Bruce grabbed her shoulder. She froze. This was Bruce Wayne, She had to remind herself, This was her father. He would not harm her.  
"I needed you Bruce. I needed you and you were not there." She shrugged off his hand from her shoulder and left in the direction of her class. 

Dick wordlessly moved out of her way and she tried not to think about the fact that she may have lost her chance to have a relationship with her siblings. 

~

Dick didn't know the whole story. Hell, before today Dick hadn't known that he had another sibling. He hadn't known that Bruce had another biological child.  
At least, he guessed that she was his biological child but he couldn't be sure because Bruce hadn't told them.

He watched the man. As always, he had an incredible poker face but he knew him better, he knew him enough to see the emotions waring among themselves behind his eyes. 

"You messed up big time B." He said quietly. "You know that, don't you?"

His father said nothing, instead he pushed past him and Damian to go after Marinette. He and his little brother had only to share a look before they took off after him, if only to stop him from doing something rash that he would regret and and that would probably damage their chance to know their sister better. 

Damian, Tim, Jason and he himself already had had the chance to talk to her. They could all collectively agree that they already loved her, even Damian, and they had no doubt the others would too.

Dick saw Marinette head towards the washroom. It was clear that she needed a moment alone, just like it was clear that that Bruce intended to wait for her to come out to be able to talk to her again. 

He disagreed. 

"B-"

"I need to talk to her."

"I know." He soothed despite wanting nothing more than to yell at the man. Sometimes, Bruce understood less than Damian. "But she won't like it and you've already pissed her off enough. Why don't we go to the cafeteria? The rest of her class is there. We can wait for her there, once she had some time to calm down."

Dick could see that he was about to protest. "Damian will wait for her and accompany her back." He said, sparing a glance at the youngest who gave him a nod back in return. "She'll be fine. Come on." 

He tugged Bruce along with him and the fact that he didn't argue and let himself be pulled along was a testament to how much he was upset by this whole thing. 

Dick was angry, he wanted nothing more than to scream at Bruce because didn't he know better than to keep secrets like this from them at this point?

~

Bruce knew he was a coward and definitely not the father one would wish for, but if Marinette really had given up on him, she wouldn't have been so angry.  
There was something he was missing.

"-your stupidity aside, she was found bound and gagged with clear signs of having been assaulted. She was tested positive for rape for God's sake. What more do you need to leave her alone?" 

There seemed to be an argument going on in the cafeteria. While that was alarming enough, the blond girl's words gave him a very bad feeling. 

"Oh, please." A sausage-haired girl rolled her eyes. "She was probably there willingly. No one would get through such traumatic event and be back to normal so soon after. Not even her parents believed her. "

"Normal? Are you serious right now? I was there when they found her. I was there when she screamed at the sight of anyone with blonde hair or green eyes. And you've all seen how after that, she hates being touched."

"She's just over-reacti-" Sausage-hair stopped in the middle of her sentence, staring at something in his direction. 

"Oh no, please do continue to speak so openly about the worst month of my life." He couldn't help the flinch when he heard his daughter's voice as she walked past him... because that meant that Marinette, sweet precious Marinette - his sunshine had been kidnapped and assaulted for a month and if the other girl was to be believed neither Tom or Sabine believed in her. 

The sausage girl scoffed but backed down. Her reaction meant that she was at least a little guilty. He filed that information for later. She muttered a 'Whatever.' and walked away. 

"Marin-" the blonde haired girl who was defending his daughter spoke up but Marinette cut her off. 

"I do appreciate you trying to defend me Chloe but I'd appreciate it better if you didn't speak of it at all."

The girl - Chloe, gave a nod in acceptance. "Go on ahead," Marinette said, from beside him. "I'll catch up." 

The blonde eyed them for a moment before she walked away. 

Bruce looked down to his daughter who was still staring ahead.  
He had so much to ask her, like What the hell happened? But she beat him to it, unclenching her fist. 

"I'm sorry for punching you, but I was. Angry." She was gritting her teeth. "But I did meant it, you don't need to bother trying to contact me or anything. I'm perfectly happy without you." 

She started walking away.

"Marinette-" he called out and she stopped. It reminded him of earlier and he had a sinking feeling that her words would be as heartbreaking as the first time. 

She shook her head. "Like I said B, I needed you." For the first time, since she arrived in the cafeteria, she turned to look at him and gave him a small sad smile that broke his heart all over again. "It would have been nice to know that at least one of my parents supported me."

He didn't say anything. What could he say to make this better? 

She walked away, and this time, he didn't stop her. 

~

Jason was a little more than pissed. 

His day had started out nicely enough, made better when he saw a tiny girl taking out two men probably twice her size. 

He was going to help her but she had already taken care of them.  
She still thanked him for trying to come to her aid and when he offered to walk her to wherever she was going, the girl took a few moments to assess him - to him it felt like she was looking through his soul.

There was something about her that screamed to him not to underestimate her. She knew what she was doing, that much was clear and when she offered him a sunny smile and told him that she was heading to Wayne Enterprises, he felt something loosen inside of him. 

It was bizzare to say the least but he felt at peace near her. Safe.  
Later on, he would realise that the haze of the Lazarus pit that he had struggled with everyday since his ressurection had retreated when he was near her. 

Jason's mood started to worsen when he found out that she had been left alone by her class. Something like an ugly acidic green snake coiled up inside of him wanting to protect her and extract revenge. 

Jason's mood improved again as throughout the day she saw the girl interact with his brothers, clearly winning over them as well. 

Though, he was rarely - to the point of never seen at WE usually, he decided to make an exception that day and hang out with the tour group Tim was supposed to be leading.  
Damian had also supposedly been bored and had decided to crash the party and Dick wasn't too far behind their youngest to keep him out of trouble. 

Everything was going smoothly and honestly, it was after a long time that they found someone the others didn't have a problem with. 

Then he had noticed Bruce, and not even a few seconds after, he noticed the bluenette slipping out after him.  
Dick and Damian - who had been shadowing her all day, slipped away after her and he was stuck behind babysitting with his replacement.

That class had nothing of worth except Marinette. There was actually even a fool that was stupid enough to claim that she knew the Waynes in front of them, while not knowing that they were the Waynes and instead treating them like mere employees. 

He would enjoy putting her in her place. 

But before he could, his day started taking a turn for the worst, impossible to brighten again.

The girl, he didn't care enough to know her name, out of the blue stated that Marinette probably just slipped away again to draw attention to her. That escalated in a very…informative battle of words that made him want to take a plane to Paris and drench it's streets in blood.

As if that wasn't enough, he saw Bruce again, now looking like someone slapped him in the face with a fish...  
On closer look, he could see that someone had actually punched him. He was so going to hack the Tower's camera. 

And then Marinette spoke up and...what?  
He was completely lost.  
Did she say one of my parents. He hoped for Bruce sake that he misheard because otherwise that meant that this father figure fucked up again...which wasn't that suprising really.

So really, Jason was a little more than pissed and he felt like his choice of words was appropriate. 

"What the actual fuck Bruce?"

~

Tim was tired. 

His day had set out to be a tiring one, irrespective of the fact that he had stayed up all night to work on a case. 

He had to lead a tour group. 

Wayne Enterprises had a habit of keeping an eye on promising students for schools that they funded. For some reason, Bruce had started funding a College François Dupont in Paris. Why? He didn't know but knowing the man, he probably had some ulterior motive. 

That had intruiged him and he had taken a look at the students in their last year. There was indeed some very promising young talents - who by the looks of it, already knew which career they wanted to do and were clearly working toward them. Many of them had already been on T.V shows, had their names in newspapers or did small gigs and commissions. It was rather impressive. 

There was this one class however which at the beginning was one who seemed to have a lot of potential but he saw in their files that over the years their...efforts dropped collectively around the same time. It was extremely bizarre. 

One particular student in that class drew his attention though. It was one Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her academic records were stellar - always had been and while her grades had dropped a but at one point, she got them back up within the year which was more than impressive since she had skipped two years. She also seemed really talented, had won several awards and supposedly had a website for commissions - her file seemed...rushed and considerably lacking in details compared to her classmates even though Tim felt like she did way more than them. 

Call it his detective instincts but he knew that there was something going on in that class, his doubts were further re-inforced when he saw a report about Marinette, it was once again quite vague but what little was in it still chilled him to the core.

But...still...there was something else about her. Something striked him as soon as he saw her picture - she seemed really really familiar but he couldn't put his finger on where exactly had he seen her before. 

Well, as CEO he was supposed to be leading the tour groups anyways, so hopefully he'd get to find out then.  
The tour group consisted of all the senior class of the college and he prayed against all hope that it wasn't to be a disaster. 

Flashforward to the big day...it wasn't actually so bad. His brothers had crashed the party...which was unexpected but they weren't causing any trouble which was for more than he could usually hope for and while some students were absolutely aboherent ((mostly from that one class that had caught his attention)) the rest were genuinely nice. He had managed to talk to a few of them and was pleasantly surprised at their intellect. 

The most interesting student there though was, as he had predicted, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, she was able to keep up with him throughout all of his explanations, whatever department may it have been in even though it was clearly stated in her file that she wanted a career in fashion. But well, he knew better than most that appearances could be receiving. 

There was however also one student who had certainly not impressed him, thoroughly disgusted him actually - Lila Rossi. 

See the thing was that no one knew that he was actually the CEO. That had been done intentionally. The aim of the tour after all was for him to be able to see if there was any potential employees for Wayne Enterprises among them.  
And boy, was he going to blacklist her. 

The girl was a lying machine and the lies weren't even good. She name-dropped at every other sentence and even did the mistake of lying about him and his brothers in a place where any employee who knew them personally could call her out on her bullshit. It was such an amateur mistake. 

His opinion of her only soured when she insulted Marinette, he had taken her a liking to her, however brief their conversation had been and even if he hadn't - the fact that Lila bought up her kidnapping and downplayed it would be more than enough. 

Thankfully not everyone from that College was total numbskulls. A few people immediately jumped to the defense of the absent girl. 

He cataloged them mentally - The Braindead, The Neutrals and The Defenders, while also taking notes of what they were saying.  
What he heard out was even more horrifying that what he had read. 

That it! He was going to be looking into this girl's case personally.

As of all of this wasn't bad enough, Bruce just had to make everything worse. 

Because he could finally out the pieces together and under why Marinette looked so familiar. 

Marinette was his sister. 

Marinette was Bruce's daughter and he was going to have to answer to Tim - and but the looks of it, his brother too - about what had happened to their newfound sister. 

~

Damian…  
Damian didn't know what to think.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason slammed the door open, making a beeline for the batcave.

He had been fuming ever since WE, it was a wonder no one had been hurt yet.   
The way he was acting reminded everyone of them of Red Hood's massacres but this felt different. Fortunately. 

His brothers all followed him, though each had a different reason. 

Tim made his way to the batcomputer. He had withheld himself from looking into Marinette's past before because he had no reason to even if it intrigued him - she deserved her privacy...but this, this changed things. He knew the gist about what had happened to her and that was horrifying enough, so to be honest, he was a bit scared of what he would find once he delved deeper. 

Dick headed to call Cassandra and explain the situation to her. She was in Hong Kong, had been for a while but he knew that for a family matter like this, she would be back as soon as possible. 

Damian wordlessly started working alongside him. It was then that Tim realized that Damian had been uncharacteristically quiet during this whole incident. 

He hadn't said a word to Bruce.

Tim and him weren't as close as well literally anyone else in the family but they had come to accept each others as brothers and had a grudging respect for each other. 

Damian's death had been a catalyst for a lot of things - a lot of realisations and it had forced him to think about what had happened to make the boy like he was. 

It was true that Damian had changed. He had come a long way from the boy who had tried to kill him but he was still...Damian. 

At the very least, Tim would have expected him to demand of Bruce to tell them how he had dared to keep such a thing from him? Afterall, if he had understood it correctly, then it meant that Marinette was Bruce's blood, which also meant that she was Damian's only other blood relative who wasn't a psychopathic assassin apart from Bruce himself.   
So the fact that Damian had done nothing was worrying to say the least. 

"Dames." He called out gently. He really wasn't the best person suited to do this.   
"Are you alright?"

The boy looked irritated at the question.  
"I'm not helping you look so that I can kill her, if that's what you're worried about Drake." 

"That's not what I-" 

But he was never able to finish his sentence. "I never did apologise, did I?" It seemed like he was talking to himself. 

He turned abruptly to Tim. "I am sorry for attacking and trying to kill you Timothy. It is however the last and the facts are that I cannot change if as much as I may wish to. I understand if you will never forgive me for them but I needed you to know that if I could take my actions back, I would in a heartbeat." And then, as if nothing had happened, he turned back to the computer and continued researching. 

Tim kept staring at his little brother for while. He had come to terms that a large part of Damian's actions back when they had first met was influenced by his grandfather and mother when the boy had died but hearing that Damian - this Damian, who had grown, who had experienced more of the world, who was something more than just a doll that only knew what Ra's and Talia had told him - was genuinely sorry made all the difference in the world. 

He chuckled and ruffled his baby brother's hair. "She'll be alright." Tim said. We'll be alright. He didn't say but he hoped his brother heard it no-no of the less because despite everything, despite the fact that he understood, didn't mean that he was ready for forgive just yet.   
But it was a step forward.

~

"Did you know Alfie?" Jason was tired, so tired. It seemed like the green mist was taking over his mind again, except this time it was more focused, he didn't itch to ravage everything but instead only what had caused his sister's suffering. The green was focused in a way it had never been before. It was strange and he couldn't say that he didn't fear what the pits would make him do now. 

Earlier, it had been the quietest they ever had been. It almost seems as if they weren't even there but he should have known that it wouldn't last, that it was the calm before the storm and yet he had dared hope. 

"I do know of Miss Marinette, yes." Alfred finally replied. "But I haven't spoken to her for as long as Master Bruce has." 

"Which is?" He asked flatly. 

"Three years." The old butler almost seemed ashamed of admitting it. 

"Why would he do that?" Jason asked, almost pleading for an answer. He didn't bother asking Why didn't you make him see sense? Why did you not tell us? Because he had learn that despite Alfred loving them as though they were his grandchildren, Bruce was his son first. Bruce came first. As much as he might express his disapproval, harmlessly undermine him, he wouldn't go against Bruce, he would never go against Bruce. 

"When Batman faked his death," Alfred started, sounding older and more defeated than Jason had ever heard him. "You are aware that people outside the hero community still thought that he was alive, correct?" 

Jason nodded, mutely. 

"Well, as far as I know, Miss Marinette didn't know either. When Master Bruce came back, he chose not to contact her again, he thought that it would be better for her, that she would be safer without any connection to him."

He snorted derisively. "Well that turned out well." 

"Miss Marinette tried to contact Master Bruce for the first three months rather relentlessly then there was radio silence for about a month and a half before she started calling again. By the end of the month, when no one replied, her calls stopped. "

Jason's heart dropped with his ending statement. It fit what he had heard in the cafeteria argument. The one month of complete silence was when she had been kidnapped. 

He groaned and buried his head in his hands, the green pulsed behind his eyelids, urging him to do something. 

"Jason." Tim called out. His head snapped up. "Come on, I'm gonna explain what I found. Bruce's gonna be down there too." 

He knew exactly why his replacement had added that last part just like he knew that all of his brothers wanted to tear into Bruce as desperately as he did. 

~

At first, it hadn't been intentional - of course it hadn't been intentional, he wouldn't have cut off his little princess without any good reason!

At first, it had been beceuse he had been dead, then, then we'll it had been easier simply not to call her again. It was for the better, he told himself, every other child of his had ready been dragged into this life of madness, had already lost their innocence and had sacrificed even more for the sake of the mission.  
Not his baby girl too…

But it seemed like everyone that was linked to him seemed to have bad luck written in the fate. 

He had failed his daughter and the worse part was that he hadn't even known. He hadn't known that anything had happened to her period until now - until it was too late to do anything. 

He had failed. Again. 

He didn't deserve the mantle of Batman, of the world's greatest detective. He didn't deserve to be called a father. 

He had not been able to keep his family safe yet again. 

~

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Daughter of Sabine Cheng and Bruce Wayne, adoptive daughter of Tom Dupain.   
17 years old.   
Top of her class. Genius IQ. Artistically gifted. Martial Arts Prodigy. Autistic.

Skipped two grades and would probably already have been graduated if it was not for one incident, namely her kidnapping. As it was, she had stopped attending school as such only showing up for exams and assignments and was following part time University courses in psychology as well as fashion & design. 

Things had started going downhill for her with the arrival of one Lila Rossi. Hacked cameras painted a pretty clear picture of why. Lila Rossi was a psychopath, though she had never been diagnosed - she was a pathological liar and definitely a narcissist. Marinette was a thorn in her side and so, she worked to get rid of her. 

First she started simple, she started by turning her friends against her and Marinette's busy schedule, her unwillingness to stay quiet or roll over for them worked in Lila's favour. It was laughably easy to turn her 'friends' against her, into bullies. 

But Lila wasn't satisfied with that. 

Next, she targeted Marinette's parents. A few staged overheard conversations, a fabricated video and voice montage and a bunch of photoshopped pictures is all it took to turn her parents against her.   
They couldn't believe that this was the same girl they raised. This girl was a bully, a liar, a cheater and a slut. 

They threw her out. 

That was when Marinette stopped attending school, opting to study online to save money and only go to take her exams back at the school. 

She had a plan. Things steadily were getting better for her and then, they weren't. 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was kidnapped. Due to the fact that she no longer went to school and had had to take up jobs to support herself, the fee friends she had left outside of school didn't even usually see her that much. 

But after two week, with no phone call or no text from her, they went looking and found...a worrying sight. The had been clear signs of a struggle in her apartment. 

Her friends raised hell and apparently Marinette had some pretty high up friends because soon it could be said that the entire police force along with several citizens had taken the streets by storm to find her. 

And find her they did - in a very cliche abandoned warehouse, tied up in chains, drugged out of her mind, with wounds they didn't even want to start imagining how she obtained. 

When they had finally found her, there was a couple of familiar faces in the search party, including the Mayor's daughter, Chloe Bourgeois. 

They thought that sending a familiar face would help her - they were wrong. The victim didn't seem to recognise anyone and got hysteric , especially when certain people appeared. 

But finally they were able to free her and as soon as her hands were free, the first thing she did was to take out her ribbons and tear them to reveal an akuma. 

Everyone was horrified. It had been a peaceful one month with no akuma attacks. Some people had begun to think that Hawkmoth had given up but no, the truth was horrifying. 

This girl, this fourteen year old girl had been fighting from being possessed by an akuma for a whole month while unspeakable horrors were being done to her. 

They had needed to let her tire herself to unconsciousness to finally be able to examine and treat her in peace.   
What they concluded wasn't comforting:  
-She had been raped multiple times  
-She was severely malnourished and dehydrated  
-She had lost a lot of blood, so much that it was a wonder she was alive at all.   
-There was different kinds of marks all over her body, gained by some kind of blade and...claws. The whole of her back and stomach was covered in a nonsensical design that made them come to the conclusion that her kidnapper was either sick in the head or that it was some kind of branding.   
-Her mental state was questionable, she showed no sign of recognising anyone around her and she had developed several triggers. 

She was kept under observation and after a while, they noticed a pattern in her behavior. She was especially wary of anyone with blonde hair or green eyes, especially men. They put it together that her attacker had those characteristics. 

People came to visit her, all gaining varying responses. People who shared the same traits of her kidnapper were banned since she had had a more than violent reaction to her classmate Adrien Agreste and the hero Chat Noir. 

Things started to change and her parents finally visited her. There had been a lot of crying that day. No one knows what was said but her parents left that day and did not come back. 

Gradually, with the help of her friends she did recover.   
Kagami, Luka, Juleka and Marc especially were a huge help in getting through to her and her other friends like Nathaniel, Chloe, Rose and Aurore were very patient and helped her see beyond the green eyes and blond hair. 

She made a quicker recovery than anyone had expected, though she categorically refused to talk to anyone about what had happened during that time or who had kidnapped her. 

Originally, she lived with the Tsuguri's and even though they insisted she could continue living there, she eventually moved out - she bought a penthouse next to the Tsuguri's since going back to living in an apartment was out of questions, with the considerable amount of money she had amassed as MDC. 

Life went on, Marinette threw herself in her work almost obsessively to catch up on what she had lost, while taking up even more work. It seemed like she took up as much work as possible to avoid thinking of what had happened. 

Within a year, she had accomplished so much. She had relaunched her brand and had gained an international clientele, while also designing for the public and had opened up a support centre for akuma victims, started volunteering to help children in need, and enrolled for certain courses in University. 

Her abductor was never found.

Flash forward through one more year, she found herself in Gotham.

~

Well, Bruce thought, I may have failed her in the past but at the very least, what I can do is get her justice. Those who dared harm her will pay.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait! Where's Damian?" 

~

Damian didn't know what to think of all this. It wasn't like he hadn't considered that one day his father would adopted someone else but he hadn't expected this - the fact that he had an actual blood sibling. 

When he had snuck in on the tour earlier, some people had protested him being there, said that a child would only cause problem. 

Before any of his brothers could intervene, Marinette did, said that she was taking his responsibility as long as he wasn't going to be in trouble for being there. Her expression though respectful was basically asking for a challenge. 

No one denied her.   
Damian decided he liked her and by the end of the tour he would reluctantly admit that maybe he wanted to be friends with her and get to know her better. 

She was smart as whip, genuine, could kick ass according to Todd, didn't treat him as a child and not that he would ever admit it but being near her made him feel... lighter...there wasn't a better to describe it. 

Now he wondered whether she had done what she had only because she had known who he was.   
He banished that thought away. Even if she had, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, she clearly wanted nothing to do with father so maybe...she had wanted to get to know him? 

That would be a first. 

It's not that he wasn't thankful for the makeshift family that he had acquired but this was different. Her and his situations were a lot similar what with them not living with their father for the most of their lives until then. 

Also, he knew that as much as they might have made it a long way in their relationship compared to how it was when they had just met, the truth would always be that they had had a bad start and he didn't think that they would ever be able to fully forgive him for the things he had done. 

Even Richard Grayson, admittedly the person he was closest with in the family didn't care for him as he did for their other brothers. 

If he did, he wouldn't have left him alone. 

Damian just wished - hoped that this time he would be able to do things right, that he would get a chance to have someone he could fully trust and that would trust him back like his siblings did with each other. 

But he had to do this right.   
He started by researching her and a voice that sounded annoyingly like Jon told him that this was not a good way to gain her trust but in the end, he was still a bat and that's how bats showed they cared.

((In the end, he hadn't needed to worry because she hinted that she knew and that it didn't bother her. By the end of the night, he had admitted to searching her up and she had been understanding. He had been so relieved, it felt like weight lifted off his chest.))

His blood was boiling as he researched her. He also felt sick. Who had dared harm his sister? They would pay, he would make sure of that. 

But then he started thinking about how strong she was for you going through what had seemed like hell and coming out still smiling like and angel. 

There were many things about her case that seemed off to him but there were more important things to worry about them. He made a mental note to investigate them further, especially akumas. 

It seemed like that night no one was going to go for patrol. That made his job of sneaking out easier. 

While Timothy went to fetch the others, he changed into black jeans, a black shirt, wore a black hoodie on top and hid weapons on him. 

He waited until Timothy started explaining what they had found to sneak out. He already knew everything he needed to afterall, including his sister's current address. 

It would be too late to stop him once they realized he was gone. Damian needed to see Marinette and no one would stop him. 

~

"Damian." Marinette leaned out of the window, staring in the darkness. "Either come in or go away. In any case, stop lurking or I'll get jumpy and you'll get hurt." 

She moved back and closed the window, not putting the lock so that he could come in if he wanted and went back to stress baking. 

She had known as soon as he had arrived. After...the incident she had become way more attuned to her surroundings which was why she was more than aware of the eyes that had been on her for the last ten minutes as well as who was observing her. 

She prayed to all the gods she knew that she wasn't wrong and that it was Damian. Not that she wouldn't be able to handle her otherwise. 

The Incident was also what had landed her in her current location. She had gained some friends and a lot of sympathizers after what had happened which was how she was able to convince the school board to let her live away from the class. It was more than simple actually, the people in her class had not been subtle about their beliefs that she had orchestrated the whole kidnapping thing. She simply had to state that she did not feel safe in such an environment.  
The fact that she had a mansion in Gotham under her name only helped. 

She had gained this place in inheritance from Master Fu, it had been imbued with Wyazz's protective magic and she could feel the remenants of the other kwamis magic. It was the safest place in Gotham, similar to his Paris penthouse, somewhere not even...he...or another Miraculous user could get to her if she didn't wish them to. As Guardian, the magic shifted and obeyed her. 

It was like a blanket of security. 

Marinette heard the window open and shut and she smiled. "It's a bit late." She said. "Does B know you're out?" 

"He must have noticed by now." Damian looked awkward, like he himself wasn't sure what he was doing there and his eyes were shifting. Someone else might have assumed it was curiosity but Marinette knew when someone was mapping a place out, marking the possible escape routes. 

She didn't mention it.   
"Either way, Father knows that I am more than capable of taking care of myself."

She didn't question it, the way he held himself showed her enough to know that it wasn't just arrogance or childish endeavours speaking. 

"You can sit down." She said after while when he didn't move. "I'd sit with you but if I stop this preparation, everything will be ruined and I don't want this to go to waste."

"It's alright." The reply was instantaneous. He hesitated before continuing. "May I ask why you are still awake, as you said, it is quite late."

"I can't sleep much." She decided that she was going to be as frank as possible with her little brother. "I was already an insomniac but now I get nightmares too." She had no doubt that they had researched her and at least knew the basics of what had happened to her. 

They fell silent again and it felt comfortable enough that Marinette didn't feel the need to make small talk. Also, Damian had come there to see her so he probably had things he wanted to talk to her about and just needed the time to sort out his thoughts.

Apparently, she was right.   
"You knew didn't you?" He asked. 

She made a non-committal sound. "About what?"

"Who I-we were when you saw us on the tour?"

She hummed. "I knew there was a high chance I would bump into one of the Waynes in Wayne Tower yes, and well I know all of your names and even if there aren't pictures of you online, it's pretty obvious."

"Because I look like father?" He sounded almost bitter. 

She turned around and leant against the counter to finally meet his eyes. "No, because you look like me."

It was true. They almost looked like twins. They shared their father's looks, Asian traits and had the same skin tone. Damian only reached to her shoulder but if someone looked at them closely, they would see that there were more similarities than differences. 

He seemed surprised but pleased with her response though he tried to hide it. Marinette turned back to her macaroons and placed them in the oven.((I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE MACAROONS))

"Why did you never ask father to meet us?" 

"I did. At first, he was adamant that Gotham was too dangerous but then he kept adopting kids and well I started thinking that, well he hadn't planned me. He was nice enough to stay in my life but that didn't mean that he wanted me in his so I stopped asking and well turned out I was right because he stepped out of my life a few years after."

She thought he wasn't going to say anything to that but his answer surprised her. "I understand." He seemed reluctant to admit it but she could hear the sincerity in his voice, in the way he seemed so vulnerable at that moment. "Not knowing whether you're wanted or not."

"Well," She slid in the seat facing him. "I know that I have a lot of time to catch up on but if you'd allow me, I want to be your life and I want you in mine."

He smiled then, slowly and unsurely. Marinette had a feeling that he didn't do that very often and it warmed her heart that he did for her. "I think that I would like that a lot too."

Marinette basked in the moment for a while longer before she stood up.   
"Well, you wanna help me bake, little brother." 

"I've never baked before." He lowered his eyes in shame. Marinette felt something like anger and protectiveness swell up in her chest. Why would he need to feel ashamed of something like that? 

She kept her tone light and tried not to betray any of her emotions.   
"There's a first time for everything, right? Come on, I'll teach you it'll be fun." 

She smiled encouragingly and he shrugged, walking to her side. She nudged him with her shoulder. "Also, do you wanna spend the night here? It can be like a sleepover?" 

She gave him her best puppy eyes and he relented. "Fine."

"Yay." She fist-bumped the air. "Shoot Alfred a text and tell him you won't be home or he'll worry." She instructed and watched patiently as he took his phone out a write a quick text. Not out. Safe. Won't be back tonight. She read over his shoulder. It was sent to Grayson. 

She wondered how often he was out that such a simple text would be enough.   
She didn't voice her question out loud.   
Instead, she beckoned hims over and started explaining. 

~

The next morning when Damian strolled in the manor, was greeted by his brothers, father and Alfred waiting for him. 

"Damian." His father sounded disappointed at him. Nothing new then.  
"You cannot just leave without saying anything like that."

"I texted." He didn't have the patience to deal with his father right now. He was already taxing on a normal day but after yesterday…"And you know well that I can take care of myself."

"That doesn't mean you can do this."  
Damian was so done with this conversation.

"And it doesn't mean that you can take out your anger at your failures on me." His father froze. He felt like he had crossed a line but he was beyond caring.   
His sister was more than amazing and she hadn't deserved to be hurt like this. And her suffering may have been prevented or at the very least reduced had it not been for the man in front of him and his love for secrets. 

He turned to his brother and dropped a bag in front of them. "Marinette sent macaroons for you three and Alfred." He knew it was petty but that did not stop him from emphasising on the last four words.

Both Alfred and Bruce startled.   
"Wait Demon Spawn, you were with Marinette?" 

"Obviously." He rolled his eyes and turned to walk to his room. But then he stopped and looked at them. "I'll be heading out again shortly."

"Wait Little D," Richard jumped to his feet. "Come on, explain this to us."

He sighed but really his brothers weren't at fault here. "I went over to Marinette's last night, we talked, we baked," he gestured at the macaroons. "She asked me to sleep over. Now if you'll excuse, I need to change and head out again."

He didn't wait for a response and walked away, however his father's voice stopped him right in his tracks.   
"You crossed a line Damian. You're grounded."

The boy turned on his heels, a shark like expression in his face. "Oh? You're forbidding me from meeting my sister now father?" Bruce flinched almost unnoticeably.

"She asked me to show her around Gotham since she has a free day." He elaborated. 

"Fine." It was rare to see his father looking so defeated. "But you're benched from patrol."

Damian was himself surprised at how much he didn't care. He had expected it. Marinette was more important right now. 

He smiled. "Of course." This time when he walked away, no one stopped him. 

~

"He didn't even protest to being benched." Tim remarked.

Damian's behavior was...he would say worrying but something told him that whatever was happening was for the best and he had learnt to trust his instincts a long time ago

"I've never heard him talk to Bruce like that before." Jason remarked. 

"You're both missing the most important thing." Dick said. "He said that he baked - that he and Marinette baked macaroons together."

As one, all three of them turned to look at the innocent looking package. 

"The brat's got the right idea though." Jason said. "We need to talk to the little lady too."


	4. Chapter 4

"Colin this is Marinette, my sister, Marinette this is Colin." Damian introduced the redhead who seemed a bit bewildered but he recovered quickly. 

"Pleased to meet you ma'am. I didn't know that Damian had another sibling."

"Well neither did he before yesterday." Marinette laughed good-naturedly. "So you're his best friend." 

"Yep!" Damian didn't refute the statement. 

"So Miss Marinette where are you from?" 

"Just Marinette is fine Colin." 

"Bu-"

"Miss makes me feel old, you don't want that now, do you?" The boy looked scandalised. "I'm only about two years older than Damian anyways so if you want to call me by a nickname, that's fine too."

The boy grinned shyly. "Okay Marinette."  
Damian looked distinctly surprised. "Well done, he still calls the others Mr, they are going to be annoyed by this development."

"Oh Damian." Marinette turned on her heels and winked at them, eyes full of mischief. "This is nothing. I got Alfred to call me by just my first name?" 

Now, both boys looked very impressed but still disbelieving. "I'll believe it when I see it." The redhead claimed. Marinette laughed but said nothing more on the matter.

"So where are you bringing me?" 

"The Gotham's Botanical Garden. I think you'll enjoy it. However, I must warn you to stay clear of anything that may anger Poison Ivy. "

She took it in stride. "Of course, I'll ask before I do anything." 

"It'll be so fun. People don't talk about it because of Ivy but the gardens are so beautiful." Colin started ranting and Marinette hid a smile at the fond expression on her little brother's face. If one didn't know what to be looking for, they would miss it but Marinette had become very very attuned to emotions, especially after she gained the Miraculous and became Guardian. 

"-attract so many different kinds of butterflies."

"Huh." Marinette mused. "It'll be nice seeing some actual butterflies and not akumas for once."

"You mentioned akumas before too." Damian interrupted. "What are they?"

She seemed a little surprised. "Do you - do you really have no idea of what's going on in Paris?" 

Both of the boys shook their head. Even Colin looked curious now. 

"It's pretty surreal but, when I was twelve, this guy surfaced. He calls himself Hawkmoth. He sends out these magic butterflies called akumas to anyone who's experiencing any negative emotion to possess them. He makes a deal with the victims to give them powers for them to be able to take revenge upon whatever wrong happened to them and return he asks for the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Who?" Colin interrupted and Marinette blinked. She had sounded so...old, so burdened as she spoke - so different from the bubbly macaroon making girl that Damian had learnt to know. 

"Right, context. After his first akuma, two heroes surfaced in Paris too. They're powered by the Miraculous too. Hawkmoth wants Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring. No one knows why exactly and well we're not interested to find out. More power in that madman's hands can only cause harm." 

"You mean to say." Damian's voice was flat. "That there has been a sociopathic terrorist in Paris for five years and no one knows of it. Why didn't the mayor call for the Justice League?"

Marinette's face darkened. It almost made both if the boys shudder and take a step back. 

"Oh but we did. More than once, more than ten times in fact. We only stopped whenthe Leaguers asked us to stop wasting their time with pranks."

"What?" Damian exploded. "They just disregarded all the damage that must have been caused, all the phone calls. They didn't even look into it."

Marinette placed a hand in his shoulder, urging her aura to seek his and calm him down. "The thing is one of Ladybug's powers is the Miraculous Cure. It fixes all the damage caused in the midst of battle."

"All the damage?" Even Damian didn't seem to believe it at that point. 

"I know it seems too good to be true." She fished out her phone and tried to look for a video. "And we understood that but everyone in Paris is pissed that they didn't even bother come verify our so called claims. I mean for God's sake, they have aliens, shapeshifters, magicians and even guys who are themselves powered by magical jewelry if I'm not wrong." 

Marinette huffed as she found a video. It was one of the first ones from the Ladyblog, when Alya was still a reliable reporter. She played the video. It was of The Mime and it showed how he cut the Eiffel Tower in two as well as the Miraculous Cure taking effect. 

The boys especially Damian seemed horrified and Marinette felt a little of guilt for subjecting them to that.   
But then Damian looked up at her and his lazarus green eyes of reminded her that he probably had seen worse. 

"That's…" He didn't seemed to know what to say. 

"Terrifying." Colin said. "Are they all really that strong?" Marinette winced, debating whether to tell them the truth of not. 

Damian seemed to sense that. "You can tell us." He prompted and she sighed, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"That's actually one of the tamer villians." She admitted. "The Mime appeared during the first year of Hawkmoth's reign of terror. One of the worst akumas back then that come to mind is Syren. She flooded the entirety of Paris, about three quarter of the population died and were brought back by the cure." She took another look at them and decided that she wasn't going to be the cause of their further trauma. 

"Hey, this is it, right?" She promptly changed the subject, knowing very well that she hadn't been subtle at all. "Gotham Botanical Gardens." She beamed down at them. 

"Wow, it's beautiful." She took a moment to appreciate the sight. "Hey you're right, there's a lot of butterflies. Can we go there first?" She was basically bouncing as she turned to look at her brother and his best friend. 

Colin looked gleeful while Damian seemed just amused. "You act like a child." Her brother informed her. She stuck out her tongue at him. "And you speak like an old man but you don't see me complaining." 

"Fair enough." He chuckled. "What are you waiting for? Let's go then."

He couldn't help the full-blown smile appearing on his face as both his sister and his best friend literally ran to the butterflies and started gushing together. 

He started to make his way to them when someone appeared in front of him blocking his view. His usual scowl and glare were back on his face when he looked up. The boy seemed to recoil slightly at his look but it didn't deter him more that that. 

"I don't know who you are." His tone clearly gave away that he felt like he was the one in power here. Damian cursed the time when he used to act like that. He had learnt that lesson the hard way - had learnt not to underestimate an enemy. "But you're gonna stay away from my princess. She doesn't need children like you around." 

Damian took a second to analyze him. Blond Hair. Green eyes. He remembered reading those as Marinette's triggers during his research. He had to clench his fists to stop himself from reaching out to his weapons.

"She can decide that for himself." He said instead and went to walk around him but the boy grabbed his shoulder. 

The next thing he knew he was standing behind his sister. "Adrien." She cut in smoothly. "I didn't expect to see you here, especially not without your bodyguard." Damian could see that she was tense, her back muscles were coiled as if she was ready for a fight. 

"Princess." He was beaming. "I snuck out." He said almost proudly. "We need to talk."

"Gotham isn't Paris." Her words seemed more like a warning rather than the facts they were which the blond idiot obviously didn't catch on. "And I want nothing to do with you, haven't for three years. I owe you nothing. Give up."

That was a clear dismissal if Damian knew one. "Princess you need to listen to me-" He reached out to grab her hand but was cut off.

The younger boy had seen her lurking but she hadn't seemed a threat so he didn't know whether he was thankful or not that she had jumped in. 

Ivy spoke "The girl asked you to go away." Thankful, he finally decided.

The boy looked a little nervous - so he did have some braincells. "Ma'am, respectfully, this does not concern you."   
Well not enough it seemed. 

"Oh well, respectfully." Her plants towered behind them. "I don't give a damn. Stay away from them."

The plants grabbed him and threw him just outside the park boundaries. It seemed a little tame for the likes of Ivy but then again she always did go softer for children even if they were brats.

Damian watched as the boy scrambled back to his feet and glared in their direction before he stomped off. 

"Damian." His sister was clearly fretting over him, he would never admit it but it felt good, he felt loved. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"I'm alright, I'm alright. I told you, I can take care of myself." 

She smiled, soft and relieved. "I don't doubt it but promise me if you see either him or Lila from yesterday, you need go the other way."

"Why?" He frowned. He had a doubt on blondie but what about that Lila girl?   
"And by Lila, do you mean the sausage haired girl?"

His sister cracked a grin at that thought she was still serious. "Yeah her."

"Why?" He repeated and she became grim at once. "Because he's sick in the head and she's a psychopath so please, promise me." She met his eyes and really, faced to that did Damian have any other choice but to accept?

She beamed at him as Colin approached them. "That was so cool. Are you okay Dames?" He turned to talk to his best friend and gave him a once over before nodding. 

"Thank you for stepping in." He heard his sister and turned around. Ivy may be one of the villains-turned-anti-hero but it didn't mean that people didn't need to be wary around her. What was Marinette thinking?

"Boys like him need to be taught a lesson before it's too late." Damian's mind immediately went to Harley's and Joker's relationship. 

"I don't think a lesson would do him any kind of good at this point but thank you."   
It was very apparent that her words made Ivy re-evaluate her. 

The woman gave a nod. "Don't mention it." She said nothing else but didn't move away. 

Marinette smiled. "By the way, I love that flower in your hair. That's a lily right?" 

"Yes." She said slowly but the spark in her eye showed that she was now interested. "You know flowers?" 

"I have a garden of my own." Marinette revealed. "I tried growing some lilies but they're no where as beautiful as this one." Marinette fished for her phone again and started showing her images. The older woman didn't say anything but Damian could see that she was interested and she seemed almost pleased.

Deeming it safe for now, he slowly turned to Colin who was staring at the scene with amazement. 

"Colin." His friend turned to him wide-eyed, "Your sister is amazing." 

He couldn't help but feel smug at the words. "Obviously." He said but then lowered his voice. "Tell me, how did she get to me so fast when she was watching butterflies with you." 

Colin sobered up at that. "She was talking to me when suddenly she just snapped her head up to look at you. I think that's when the boy came. She told me to stay there and started walking towards you. The thing is when the guy touched you, she was about half-way there, I didn't register but the next thing I knew she was standing between you and the blond." He shook his head. "There's something about her…it's not necessarily bad but she's just...different…special."

"I know what you mean." Damian agreed.

~

"-and then she spoke with Poison Ivy for one hour straight about plants and gardening. Ivy even gave us a personal tour of the botanical gardens." 

"Seriously? She usually takes forever to warm up to someone especially if the other sirens aren't with her."

"Marinette seems to be the exception." The youngest Wayne said as he but into another macaroon. Once again, he had been ambushed on his return home - this time however, it was only his brothers and that had demanded he tell them all about her. 

His felt his phone vibrate and knew it was the message he was awaiting. "She's busy during the day." He informed his brothers. "But she invited us for dinner."

His brothers looked at each other and grinned. Tommorow looked promising.


	5. Chapter 5

"Father you know I respect you." Damian said and everyone at the dining table stilled as they were about to get up and leave. "But I must admit, as my brothers would say, you've majorly fucked up." 

Bruce sighed. He had thought about that - had Alfred scold him for having benched Damian - for doing as Damian had said and taking out his anger about his own failures on his other children. But that didn't make this any easier.  
"Damian I know you're mad I didn't tell you about your sister-"

"Oh this is not about that. Well not entirely. They are connected but this is not about Marinette alone." When no one spoke, he took it as his cue to continue.   
"You saw in her files that there were some vague details about her being possessed by an akuma. Did you figure out what they are? Because I have an its not pretty. Actually, it's bad enough to warrant an intervention of the Justice League as a whole but my sister tells me that they were told not to waste the JL's time." 

His youngest's face was worryingly blank. It reminded him of all the times he was set upon something and right now it seemed that his new focus was his older sister. Bruce supposed, he should be thankful that Damian's attention towards her was not of the murderous kind. 

"What do you mean?" He made sure to keep his voice free from emotions. 

"From what she told me, they asked for help several times until someone from the JL dismissed their problems as a prank, a joke without any investigation or anything about their claims."

Someone was going to be hearing from Batman soon. 

"And what about the akumas?" 

"It's enough to need more than one member of the JL. I've see a video of one of the attacks, it's...horrifying and according to Marinette it was one of the tamer ones." 

"Do you have them?" His sons all looked annoyed and he knew they were probably thinking that he was letting superhero work take precedence over his family again. But that was how he worked. He didn't know what to do about the situation with Marinette but this - this could find a solution to. 

"There are videos of them online."   
Damian seemed to take that as his cue to get up and walk away.   
"I'll play the videos in the cave." 

~

Marinette hadn't necessarily had the best time in the last years but one thing he had definitely learned was who were her real friends and who weren't.

It was before the worst month of her life but things had already started taking a turn for the worse for her at that point. 

Her so called friends all started to believe Lila over her, started to - as she now knew - emotionally blackmail her, only gave her the time of the day whenever she did something for them or to scold her for whatever she apparently did for poor Lila. 

She was oh so tired and every second she wasted made her feel more guilty.   
Hawkmoth had come back more enraged than ever after the Miracle Queen incident and she had done the mistake of lending the more Miraculous out.

She had given Kagami and Luka both different Miraculous for them to fight alongside her because they both have strong spirits and a good resonance with several kwamis but... let's just say that she would never forgive herself for what they had to experience because of her.

In desperation, she tried to find other holders that she hadn't used before who resonated but that...that had been a huge mistake. She almost lost more than one Miraculous that day. 

She was their Guardian. And that day she vowed that she would die first before letting something happen to the Kwamis.

She was fighting alone now. Chat Noir...Chat Noir was even more pushy about revealing themselves after the the chaos that had occured. He hindered more than he helped, never showing up on time. 

Things had come to head one day as she walked into class. The whole incident had involved a bunch of sheep and a ripped sketchbook - hers to be precise. 

It proved to actually be a relief to let go if them. She had never realized how much their 'friendship' had been dragging her down. 

That experience proved to be helpful later when she felt like there was no one she could trust. 

Apprenticeship with Master Fu had since long taught her that it was better to feel than to see. She had learnt to recognise auras rather than faces and in the end that might have been her saving grace - or well at least the start of her path back to sanity. 

She had learnt to see and remember the auras of her friends rather than anything else because afterall the soul didn't lie.

After everything, well her reliance on auras had only increased.   
Meeting her brothers had been amazing and even more so now that it seemed that they wanted to have a relationship with her.

But one things that bothered her were their auras. 

It wasn't that they were bad - it was that they were scarred, hardened and she could basically see that they had suffered in the past. 

The worst of them were probably Jason and Damian. Their auras made it very clear that they had been dipped in the Lazarus pits.

Jason...Jason's soul had been corrupted at such a point that she doubted that the pits had been used for anything less than bringing him back from the dead. 

And Damian - Damian's soul seemed to have some of the pits as a foundation. She gathered that he had been dunked into the pools more than once when he was a child. There was something else in his aura too that showed that he had died not long ago too. 

There was also another aura that seemed to have to have linked with both of them which made her sure of their last fates and Marinette shuddered to think what had happened to them. 

She had to remind herself that the past was in the past and while she couldn't change that, she could at least help them have a better future. 

So, one could say, that she was nervous for this upcoming dinner.

~

The dinner didn't go as expected - at all. 

Firstly, they were late. All of her brothers and sister were late, very very late. Marinette was not impressed, especially give that Damian wasn't answering his phone. 

But this was Gotham, the few kwamis she had brought with her reasoned, there was probably a problem and wasn't it better that were safe inside than stuck outside and hurt? 

Just as she was about to say screw it and transform using the fox Miraculous to see if she could help the bats, she felt the magic around the house shift. 

Marinette focused in the disturbance and closed her eyes reaching out for their auras. She soon snapped her eyes open and let a smile come on her face - she knew those auras. But why were they entering from the window? 

Marinette shrugged it off and signalled the kwamis to hide while she went to greet them. 

She was not ready for the sight that she came upon. Her siblings were all in a state of disarray and it looked like they were trying to be silent. 

They were of course failing miserably given what seemed to be a bullet wound in Jason and a stab would in Dick and the rest of them all seemed to have been beat up to at least some degree.

"What the fuck?" Marinette felt like the situation called for her language to be excused. 

They all froze in place before slowly turning to look at her. 

"Uh hey." Dick or should she say Nightwing because apparently she wasn't stressed enough gave her a short wave.

She cursed and buried her face in her hands. "Of course I can't have normal siblings."

"Siblings?" Black Bat seemed suprised. She couldn't recognize her aura, Marinette decided that she must have been Cassandra. 

"You must be confused ma'am." Red Robin jumped in and Marinette rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid Timothy." And then just to prove her point she point at each one of them in turn. "Jason, Dick, Damian and who I'm guessing is Cassandra."

"What makes you say that?" Tim seemed to be ever the player of words. 

She sighed, knowing they wouldn't budge until she proved that she truely believed her words.   
"Well, why else would you be here?"

"Uh because it was the nearest place we found to nurse our wounds and last time we checked this place was abandoned?"

"Let's say that's true. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to go a place where you could actually have access to supplies to treat your wounds? Not to mention the fact that that-" she pointed at the hole in Jason's shoulder. "-is a bullet wound. And lastly, what a coincidence it is that Black Bat who is known to work in Hong Kong comes back to Gotham at the same time as my sister Cassandra who from what I've heard also is currently living in Hong Kong too." 

No one replied. 

"So do you want to continue arguing or are you idiots going to let me help you before you bleed all over my floor."

Unsurprisingly it was Damian who moved the first - it made sense, he was the one who had spent most time with her and at least had a modicum of trust in her. 

He removed his mask and met her eyes. "Do you have a first-aid kit?"

She nodded. "Get in the bathroom and get those two in the tub." She nodded towards Dick and Jason. I'll bring it to you." 

Marinette hurried to her bed room to find her probably over-packed first aid kit. She had brought it for herself so that in case of a bad akuma attack she could take care of her wounds - after all her cure took care of everyone else before her, she had enough scars to prove that not that she could distinguish them from those the cat had given her.

She was glad to see that they had followed her instructions. Jason and Dick were seated in her honestly huge tub and they along with the rest had made themselves comfortable, having discarded their armor. 

She placed the first-aid kit down and kneeled next to Dick. She felt that the stove would in the stomach took more precedence. 

Jason reached out for the kit but Marinette batted his hand away.   
"You're injured, sit down quietly." She snapped and to everyone's surprise, he did as he was told. 

Marinette started treating their wounds, thanking the kwamis that she had done a medical course as soon as she had realised that her wounds could not heal from the cure. 

She had finally taken care of the more dangerous wounds and Marinette had enough of them squirming so she broke the silence "So, why in the world did you come here instead of going to your hyper-tech batcave with most certainly more medical facilities than my humble abode?"

She had to supress a smile as the boys looked among themselves. Finally it was Cassandra that replied.   
"Did not want to miss dinner. You." 

"Well you were already two hours late, you could just have sent me a text that you'd be a little more late."

"Didn't want to take chance."

Marinette smiled up at her. "Well I'm done, come on, I'll get you some clothes to change into."

"I don't think you'll have anything that will fit us."

"I'm a designer." She called over her shoulder. "I always have spares. Anyways, Cassandra-" 

"Cass."

"Right, well Cass come with me, we're about the same size, you can take something of mine."

She led Cass to her bedroom and guided her to her wardrobe while she picked something for the boys.

She totally hadn't hoped to see her siblings during this trip and had this made something for them. Nope. Absolutely not.

She handed each of them their clothes. "Choose a room if you want, I have more than enough of them, then come down, I'm re-heating the food."

She smiled at Damian as he came down the stairs. "I tried my hand at some Arabic food. I hope you like it." 

The boy looked awed. He walked to her and gave her a hug. "You're my new favourite sibling." Marinette laughed and pressed a kiss in his hair. "I love you too little brother."

She heard the disbelieving whisper of Demon Spawn? And looked up to see the rest. 

She squeezed Damian's shoulder one last time before she pulled away, guiding him to sit down.

"Well dig in. You must be famished after your fight."

They did exactly that and soon were making their appreciation known.   
"It's the first time I've attempted Arabic food, I don't know if I got the spices right.*

"It's delicious Pixie Pop. Don't worry.*

"Todd's right Mari. I haven't eaten anything this good since I came to Gotham."

"Really? Alfred didn't immediately dote on you and cook you all the food you wanted. "

He looked uncomfortable. "I was a difficult child back then."

"Was?" Jason snorted while Dick elbowed him. 

Casssandra intervened. "You good at cleaning wounds. Hands stable."

"Yes well unfortunately it's not the first time I've had to do this."

"How come?" 

"Did Damian tell you about the akuma attacks?" They nodded. "Well, Paris had since adapted to handle the akuma attacks. A lot of people have taken medical courses for extensive first aid to be able to help the unfortunate victims of an akuma."

"I thought that your superhero reversed all the damage."

"Well yeah. But Ladybug was insistent to make it clear that they couldn't bank everything on her. If she's taken down, everything's lost."

"This has been going for how many years. How do you still trust that hero?"

"And for how many years have the Joker been spreading his terror?" She asked drily and saw several of them recoil - Jason and Tim especially. 

"Ladybug is doing all that she can only get so far with Chat Noir around."

"Chat Noir? I thought that he was her partner?"

"He's supposed to be but we'll these days he causes more trouble than he stops. People hope he doesn't show up because the battles are always over quicker when he's not there." She could see that they wanted to ask more but number one she didn't want to talk about Chat Noir and number two she felt like if she continued talking, she would slip up and say something she shouldn't know and the risk of them catching it was greater since they were themselves heroes.

"And anyways, Hawkmoth only comes out in a blue moon and that's only when he has a lot of faith in his plans."

"So there are a lot of these akuma attacks?" 

"I guess it's kind of become a daily event by this point. People plan stuff taking it into consideration and if we're unlucky, there will be more than one in a day."

"So what type of akumas are there?"

"It depends really over what you've been akumatized. We've had a Pharaon, a Mime, Mr Pigeon and Mr Rat as well as Syren in the first year." 

"Those seem like... interesting characters." Jason said. 

"Wait until you hear this." Marinette snorted. "We had a Batman knock-off once, Owlman - he had his own electronic butler and everything."

The bats shared a look before they all bursted out laughing at once.   
How could they not, imagining Bruce's face upon learning of this?

"You need to tell us this story."  
Marinette was more than eager to comply. 

~

"Are you sure you don't mind us staying?"

"It's late and there's more than enough room here and like hell I'm going to let you walk back home when you're injured."

"Okay." Dick finally relented. "You win." 

"Yay." She fist-bumped the air. "Are you guys tired or can we watch a movie?"

"Movie sounds good but aren't you tired." Jason asked. 

"I'm a raging insomniac." She reached forward to bump her fist with Tim while the rest looked at them disapprovingly. 

"Oh hey by the way, these clothes are super comfy." Her fellow sleep deprived brother commented. "Wait." He seemed to freeze and she turned around to look at him. He was staring at her logo on his shirt. 

"Are those MDC?"

"You like fashion?" She was quite famous among celebrities but no one who she hadn't designed for would be able to recognise her subtle logo. 

"A bit." He admitted. "I love their stuff. All the designs are through the roof. Even these idiots agree with me. Oh my god, can you get me a meeting with them?"

Marinette was amused, she wasn't very used to this, being the one people went to for favours. She considered not telling them and letting them find out when she did her face reveal on her eighteenth birthday but she really wanted to see his face…

"You're speaking to her."

"MDC." Tim whispered in awe. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng." 

"You're the most sought out designer right now?" Damian asked. 

"Why do you sound so suprised?" She teased him back. 

"No reason, it's just you're...young."

"Hey." She said, mock offended. "So it Tim, but he's running the a multi-billion company.*

"That's not what I-I meant how did you get discovered so soon?"

She smiled, peaceful and happy in that moment as she caught sight of the kwamis hiding above them.   
"Just a little bit of luck."


	6. Chapter 6

Another day she had needed to spend with the idiots in her class. Once again, she felt like cursing her parents. 

Marinette was by all means done with Lycée, she was following University courses but after Tom and Sabine had disowned her in all but name, it's not like they knew that. Most of her old relations had no idea what she was up to and it suited her not seeing them ever again. 

But despite everything, the Dupain-Chengs she didn't consider herself one anymore did to her, they still didn't want her to dishonour their family even more so they made an arrangement with her and her Lycée.

She had to at least show up for the exams and any school functions and they would leave her alone to do as she pleased instead of sending her to a boarding school and well with all her responsibilities, she never really had a choice. 

Which brought her here - on the Gotham Field Trip. She really didn't know why they had even sent her here, they were only wasting their money and Sabine must have known that the chances of her meeting Bruce were high, especially since their activities were centered around Wayne Enterprises.

Today they were going to be assigned to one person they had to shadow all day - it was supposed to help them get some actual job experience. 

Marinette was chosen to shadow the CEO - how surprising - and it just so happened that today was one of the rare days Bruce Wayne was in the company so she would have the pleasure of helping both him and Tim depending on who needed her most - yay her. 

She was willing bet her future fashion empire that Bruce had orchestrated this in an attempt to get a chance to talk to her. 

However she had to admire that one good thing come out of this - Lila Rossi got served. 

Like she had mentioned it before, she didn't have anything to do with her past classmates except the bare minimum but it seemed even now the liar still felt threatened by her every time they met. And honestly, she couldn't care less except that wench was the reason her parents had turned against her and of course how could we forget the worse thing of all? That Lila Rossi was willingly working with Hawkmoth - a known terrorist. 

So the jobs had been announced and Lila has started her usual act and name dropping and oh there must have been a mistake, Timothy told me that I would be chosen to work with him since I'm already used to helping him. That had received a sharp look from the one delegating and a simple comment about Miss Rossi you are to report to our legal team, they have something prepared especially for you. Seeing Lie-La pale and shut up so yeah that had been the highlight of her day. 

But now, now she was most certainly going to be forced to speak to her father and she kind of wished that Lila had succeeded for once. 

Just as the lady she had grown to like was about to show her the way, her father magically appeared not really, she had seen him hiding in the shadows for the last five minutes and offered to guide her himself. 

As she predicted, he said nothing else, until they were in his office but once the doors were closed… 

"Mari-" He started to speak but then the doors banged open and a haggard looking Tim Drake stumbled in.   
"Nette, I heard I got you today. Thank fuck I didn't get one of the brats." He stumbled in on the couch, paying Bruce no mind and grinned at her. "Plus, I get sister bonding time so win-win for me."

Marinette looked from him to Bruce. "You have impeccable timing." She informed him. "So I'm going to make you coffee."

"You are an angel." He declared. "An absolute angel. Now I understand why Damian likes you so much."

Marinette laughed it off. "Damian likes me because I don't call him Demon Spawn Timbers."

"In my defense." He groaned. "He was a brat back then and now, well it's basically a nickname. Call it brother's privilege if you want. And he knows it."

Marinette smiled gently at him as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Bruce, and sat down drinking her own cup. "Does he know that?"

Tim blinked at her, a thoughtful expression taking place on his face.   
It lasted until he tasted the coffee, then it was replaced by awe.   
"This is so good, how is this so good, it's literally the same thing I drink everyday? Can you work for me permanently?"

She was amused and this conversation seemed to shock her father so it was a plus. "But Timmy, if I change my career how are you going to get your special MDC suits?"

That strangely made him go serious.   
"About that, I needed to talk to you." 

Marinette raised an eyebrow, this should be good. 

"What would you think if Wayne Enterprises becomes the main sponsor for MDC?" 

She leant back in her seat crossing her feet and took a long sip of her drink.   
"Now why would I agree to that?"

Tim looked surprised while she was careful to keep her own face carefully blank but he recovered quick enough and seemed to thrive on the challenge. 

Marinette could pinpoint the exact moment when he changed to his game face. "Why wouldn't you? This in the long term will benefit you especially when you decide to release your line or officially start your company."

"Who said anything about releasing a line? Right now I'm on a clientele only basis and the greatest thing about MDC right now is my anonymity. My business is flourishing and I'm on high demand, especially among celebrities so you can imagine the price I get for each of my works. Why would I want to change that?"

"While that is true, the novelty will eventually wash off. Your designs may be good enough for you to get some loyal customers but you won't be as you put it in high demand anymore. And I may have known you for only a while, but I doubt you haven't planned for the future."

Marinette could admit, she was a little impressed. "While that is true, I'm currently a millionaire and have more than enough money to launch a line by myself."  
Tim opened his mouth to interrupt but she continues before he could.  
"And yes, I do understand how accepting your offer will benefit me more but signing with you also means that will represent my brand and how can I - bearing my own interests in mind - accept knowing is publicly involved with Wayne Enterprises?"

He looked completely lost and Marinette was probably having more fun that she should with this. "Who do you mean?"

"I mean that even if people don't outright state it, everyone knows that the Wayne finances and outfits the Gotham vigilantes."

"And your point is?" The poor boy was going to make her say it.   
"Your costumes are a fashion disaster Timmy, an eyesore if not a horror?" 

"They're not that bad!"

"Do not get me started on the first Robin's costume. Were you not in your right mind when you allowed it?" For the first time in the day, she spoke to Bruce. 

"Wait, you know?" She shot Tim a questioning look. Why hadn't told him, she figured it out? The boy just shrugged and she sighed. 

"It's not that difficult to figure out Bats. You and Mom literally met while you training in extreme martial arts and the way she described you doesn't match up with the idea the media has of you so I was already suspicious and then I met them and I saw them in costume, they have the same build and everything and their alibi was frankly terrible. Also the rate at which you take in kids matches with the appearance of each new Robin."

"When was the last time you got your IQ tested?" He demanded. 

Marinette elected to ignore that comment in favour of finishing her conversation with Tim. "So?"

"So if I get everyone to agree to a costume redesign by you, you'll sign?"

"I get to re-design and remake all of your costumes as well as become the go to for the family for all your events."

"That's a lot of conditions."

She shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "Those are my terms but if you'd like, you can consider the part about your costumes a favor to you sister so that she doesn't get a heart attack everytime she sees you suited up."

"I'll agree as long as you admit you're exaggerating."

Marinette gave him a deadpan look. "Have you ever seen the Red Hood helmet. I have nightmares about it."

He considered it. "Yeah okay that's fair. So should I start working on the papers?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm going to rebrand once and for all once I'm 18 along with my face reveal."

"Rebrand, why?"

"Like you rightly pointed out two nights ago MDC stands for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Well I don't want to be a Dupain-Cheng for longer than I have to. I'll be changing my name hence the rebranding."

"Would you consider Wayne?" Bruce asked softly. Marinette paused. She had been considering taking Master Fu's name actually. "I don't know B."

"I'll leave you two to talk." Tim said slowly getting up and she would have protested but she could not run from this forever and the Kwami pressing against her leg seemed to agree. 

"Yeah just…" She took out her phone and send him a contact. "That's my lawyer, you can send her the papers to review. I'll talk to her about it."

Tim checked his phone and went slack jawed. "Elle Woods. Elle Woods is your lawyer." He threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't know why I'm still surprised at this point but I'm gonna ask, how did you get her to work for you?"

"She's one of my regulars. "

"Of course she is." Tim muttered. Marinette watched silently as he went to refill his cup of coffee but ended up taking the whole coffee machine with him and walked out of the door. 

Marinette turned to Bruce. She was not looking forward to this but she sighed and got up. "I'm supposed to be working so give me something to do."

"I thought you agreed we need to talk Marinette."

"I never agreed to anything." She reminded him. "But yes we'll talk." She pointed a finger at him. "While I work. So, give me something to do."

"You need this to be on your terms." He noted. 

"I know you've researched what happened. After having been stripped from my senses and having my will taken away from me, yes I do enjoy being in control." She dared him to say something. "So. Give. Me. Something. To. Do."

"You can arrange the paper on the desk. According to the project names, put it in alphabetical order with A being on top."

Marinette set to work without another word. Bruce took that as his cue to start speaking. 

"You know about Batman. The year I stopped talking to you was when when I was assumed dead-"

"Then why?" She cut in sharply. "Did Alfred not even deign inform me that my father was dead? Or what about after you came back?"

He stayed silent.   
"The truth B is that even before that you were speaking to me less and less. Your phone calls, rare as they were, were always so short I was never able to tell you what i wanted." She gave out a humorless laugh. "You know I used to be scared that you didn't want me. I mean why else would you keep me a secret from your other children? So I didn't complain because I didn't want to stop having the little time you even gave to me. Guess, I was right in the end."

"No." He stood up and came to stand in front of her. "Marinette sweetie, please believe me. I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you. I've never not wanted you but my lifestyle was always very dangerous but I never realised how much it really was until Jason died and then shortly after I returned Damian died. Every child of mine has been traumatized in some way by my enemies. I didn't want the same to happen to you. There are villains out there who know who I am. I got scared Marinette, distancing myself from you was me trying to protect you. I know - I know it doesn't excuse me not being there for you but you need to know I am so so sorry. Please let me make it up to you. "

Marinette felt the kwamis on her person press against her, offering their silent support. 

"I'm willing to try." She said at last, finishing arranging the last of the documents. She looked up at him and could basically read the hope in his expression. "But you need to give me space. I'm not coming to live in Gotham nor am I going to defer to you. I've built my own life, you're not going to interfere with in. You can be in it but you don't get to try and change things."

"Okay, okay I can work with that."

"Then you've got yourself a deal." Marinette offered him her hand to shake and he did shake it but right after, he pulled her in a hug. 

Bruce realized his mistake when Marinette stiffened up but she relaxed in his arms and she slowly, almost hesitantly clutched his shirt, like a small child holding their dad's shirt, trying to hide in his arms. 

And a father's heart broke all over again.


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette wanted to leave the room as soon as she stepped in. Things were already bad as it is with her having to put up with her class another day but it seemed like the spider had spun her web of lies again. 

Truthfully she didn't want to know what story Lila had been spinning now but it didn't seem like she would have a choice. Everyone had been whispering and pointing at her for a few days. 

Marinette rolled her eyes and had the intention to ignore them that day as well but Marc, Nathaniel, Aurore and Mireille came to her and pulled her aside. 

This must have been bad then. 

"You know how Lila was assigned security yesterday?"

Marinette felt cold. She hoped that this wasn't going where she though it was going but she nodded and slipped her phone out.

"She's accusing you of having seduced Bruce Wayne." Marinette gagged a bit in her mouth but told them to continue while she typed. 

We have a problem. 

The family group chat she had been added to flooded with messages.   
She hadn't known them for long but they had accepted her almost instantaneously and we're insanely protective of her. 

Are you alright? 

What's wrong?

What is the matter?

Do you need me to kill someone? Or if they're already dead, I can help hide the body.

Firstly, Timmy if you're in WE can I get a rescue? 

@MostDangerousBird

@MostDangerousBird

On my way. 

Secondly, @BatmanIsAFurry is that offer to take Wayne as my last name still open?

Of course, but what is it that happened?  
The reply was surprisingly - or maybe not, given recently events - instantaneous. 

Marinette turned on her recorder just in time. 

"She's saying that she has pictures proving that fact - of you and Bruce Wayne in a scandalous embrace."

Marinette could guess where the pictures came from. This is what she gets for trying to mend her relationship with her father. 

She send the record to the group chat.   
I'm never hugging you again pops. 

She received the expected messages of outrage from her brothers but Bruce hadn't replied yet. She felt fear run through her at the thought that Bruce would decide that she wasn't worth it - that she was already a problem again.

But then…He sent 🥺 in response to her last message before he went serious. 

Tell them. Do whatever you must. I'll handle the consequences. 

Marinette couldn't help the smile that came upon her face. 

"You don't seem perturbed by this news." Marc remarked. 

"There's something you don't know about me." She was about to tell them when the self-proclaimed reporter came to her. 

"I can't believe that you would stoop so low that-"

Fortunately, before Marinette had to listen to anymore of her nonsense, her older brother came to the rescue. 

People who complained about siblings really didn't know how lucky they were. 

"What is going on here?" Everyone quieted down. Marinette was a little amused to see how easily Tim commandeered the room but then again, it seemed like everyone in her family had that charm in their own way. 

He made a beeline to her. "Are you alright Marinette?"

"I'm fine." She allowed his fretting. "Just need to get far from this BS."

He chuckled but was interrupted by non other than the fake fox. "You seduced both the father and the son. Aren't you even a bit ashamed? For how longer will you continue this, you've already faked it three years before and got a city involved in your games."

Oh Marinette would enjoy her going down and Tim seemed to share her opinion. He looked disgusted. 

"Bruce gave us his okay?" He questioned and she simply nodded. While she knew that whatever came out of that chamaleon's mouth was utter garbage and always tried her best not to let that affect her - any mention of the events of three years ago made her...tired and most people in her class hadn't stopped speaking about it since their arrival in Gotham. 

Her brother sent her a worried look and she smiled weakly back at him.   
"Well let me clear all of your doubts and tell you about the real nature of their relationship." He placed his hands on her shoulders and Marinette couldn't help but lean a bit into it. "Marinette is Bruce's daughter with Sabine Cheng. We intended to reveal it at the upcoming Gala but apparently some people just can't keep their nose out of other people's private matters."

The room went silent and it was apparent that more than only the students had heard. Tim took the opportunity to push her forward and walk away. 

But some words stopped them. 

Even now Lila seemed to be trying to save face of her allegations. "Of course a bully like her would be an illegitimate child."

"Let me phrase it in another point of view for you." Tim stared her down. "Marinette is the oldest biological child of the richest man on Earth with connections you can only dream of." It was a thinly veiled threat and Lila was smart enough to recognise it. Marinette could almost hear her gulp. "Oh and you can expect lawsuits from us Miss Rossi. I hope you have a pleasant day ahead."

This time when they walked away, no one stopped them. 

"Are you really alright?" Tim inquired when they were in the safety of his office. 

"I just feel drained." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "How did she even get that picture?"

"There's a camera in mine and Bruce's office, it doesn't have audio so we can discuss vigilante stuff but even then the camera...she must have sneaked in into the interior rooms to have access to that because those are restricted staff only. Well it's either that or someone let her in." 

"You mean she lied her way in." Marinette snickered. "You can add that to the list in her lawsuit. I'm adding another count of defamation."

"Another? You have a lawsuit prepared?"

She hummed. "It's quite the list but I couldn't serve it to her in Paris. That's too dangerous. Instead, her mother is going to receive an email while she coincidentally is on business abroad at the same time of this trip. Hopefully this will be enough to prevent a really bad akuma."

In truth, Mrs Rossi would be met by her lawyer as soon as she reached the embassy and part of what was being served to her - thanks to the Mayor and a little influence from ladybug - she had orders not to let Lila Rossi step foot into Paris ever again. 

Marinette had made sure to submit every evidence she had of Lila working willingly with Hawkmoth. She had planning Lila's downfall for a long time. 

"That's well played. Should I tell WE lawyers to relay everything through Elle?"

She hummed. "I don't think it would be prudent - actually since the secret is out of the bag, you may as well go ahead and do it." 

Marinette let herself another ten seconds of comfort before she pushed herself upright. "I've kept you long enough. Go do some actual job. Sorry for taking you away from that by the way. "

"You don't have to apologise." Tim recognized her guilt very easily. "I'm very glad you trusted me enough to call and I can easily catch up on work. Don't worry about it, we can stay here if you want."

"No, no." She pushed his away gently. "I've seen how sleep deprived you are, you really don't need to waste more time on me. I also need to tell the others what happened. I fear if I leave them hanging much longer, they'll storm over."

He chuckled. "You might be right on that point. But once you're done, you wanna help me with some stuff?"

"Isn't that like confidential or something?" She took out her phone. 

"Not everything. So what do you say?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

She looked at her phone and saw the piling messages and sighed, she better get to work. 

~

Dick, Jason, Cass and who she guessed was Stephanie were waiting for her when she finished her day. 

"Hey." She greeted. "What's up?"

"Well we thought it'd be a good idea to take your mind off things and take you out to have some fun." 

She grinned. "The others?"

"Timmy and Bruce wanted to take care of your class personally and Damian...well he's already had time with you, we're just making it equal."

"He's gonna be angry."

"He'll have to deal with it." Marinette frowned but didn't say anything. 

"So you're game?" Jason asked. 

"Only if I can drive this beauty." She pointed at the bike Jason was leaning against. 

"You know how to?" They seemed shocked and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "My grandmother travels the world on her bike, of course I know how to ride one. So can I - please?" She looked at Jason imploringly. 

He sighed in defeat but grumbled. "If you total her, you're gonna have to buy me another one."

"Done." She fist-bumped the air. 

Stephanie chuckled and Marinette turned to look at her. "She's got you all wrapped around her little finger." None of them denied it. 

"You must be Stephanie." She greeted with a smile before leaning forward and lowering her voice. "I must say your costume is one of the only ones that's not a fashion disaster - love the purple."

Marinette smirked and left her in her state of shock. "Since when does she know?" Was hissed.

"We didn't tell her. She's got the detective genes." Dick informed her and she heard the blonde mutter Thank God she's not a vigilante too - the world wouldn't survive. Oh, if only they knew.

"I've always said your costumes are horrible. Now I have someone to share my opinion." She reached forward and Marinette obliged and high-fived her

"Our costumes aren't that bad." Jason seemed offended. 

She snorted, swinging her leg over the bike. "Sure thing Red Helmet. Shall we go now?"

~

Turns out, she had a lot in common with each of her siblings. 

Dick and her both had a love for acrobatics. Jason and her shared a lot of opinions ranging from book preferences to the question of whether or not vigilantes should or shouldn't kill criminals and villains. She had revealed that she had tried to learn some ballet on her own and Cass made her promise that they would dance together the next time they could. Lastly, Steph could rival her monlogues and needless to say had great taste - they got along splendidly.

However some fun seemed too much to ask. Another reason for their fun to have been interrupted might also have been that this was Gotham and it had been too long since a villain's attacks. 

It just so happened that they were where the villain was and specifically targeted them - then again, that might have been because three of them were known Waynes. 

"The first question goes to the little lady with the Waynes. If you lose, you get shot."

"And if I win?" Marinette cocked an eyebrow. Her siblings were thankfully quiet, knowing that they could do nothing but play along with him until Batman got there. 

"Oh, confident are we? Well I'll humor you, answer ten of my riddles correctly and - what do you want?"

"That you let me and everyone else leave unharmed."

"Fine." He snapped. "But don't get your hopes up - winning won't be that easy."

Marinette simply shrugged, an easy smile playing in her face as an invitation for him to start. 

"What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at midday and three at night?"

"A human." She deadpanned. 

The rest of the game went similarly. Marinette seemed to know all the answers instantly and they could see that the Riddler was getting more and more angry and spewed more and more difficult questions but in the end Marinette did win.

"I am a man of my word. I will let you and the others leav-" His words were interrupted by a giant bat appearing on the scene and well, she couldn't blame Riddler for what he did next. 

Before she could react, he pulled her to him and pressed the gun to her temple. "Sorry little lady but the situation calls for me to break my word."

She rolled her eyes. Couldn't have her idiot father waited a few more seconds while they all went to safety?

Batman had comically froze up once she was in the Riddler's grasp and it couldn't be more obvious that he was terrified for her. She remembered then that one of his reasons for not letting her come to Gotham was to keep her away from the supervillains…

Marinette interrupted the stare-off between Riddler and Batman by ramming her head back and slipping out from the grip she was held in. The next thing she did was to kick the gun away from the villain before she kicked him in the face effectively rendering him unconscious. 

She stepped back and looked at her siblings, purposely ignoring Batman.   
Jason was the one who rush forward first and pulled her into a hug. "Are you alright, Pixie Pop? You had scared for a second there."

Oh, she knew, she felt the madness rise in him and knew that if something did happen to her, Jason would have went batshit crazy and probably killed everyone…she needed to take care of the Lazarus side effects on him soon…

"I'm fine." She however did not protest as each of her siblings including Stephanie came forth and hugged her, making sure she was alright. 

"That was impressive Miss." Batman finally interrupted. She didn't have to look to know that Jason was glaring at him. She wrapper a hand around his arm and leaned against him, feeling him relax before smiling at her father. "Guess my martial art lessons came in handy."

That seemed to break the shock everyone fell in and they start murmuring about how badass that was. 

Marinette only hoped that they wouldn't question her skills further than being really good at martial arts and delaying their stay here wouldn't help that. 

"If that's all Batman, can we go home. I suddenly feel very...tired."

"Must be the adrenaline wearing off." He commented. "You may leave, I'll take an account of what happened from the others."

"Thank you." She shot him a last smile before stepping back, tugging Jason along with him. 

~

"Are you really alright?" 

"100%." She tried to convince them but they still looked worried. 

"-Because it's alright if you aren't. We saw how you can handle yourself but being a little shaken up after having had your life threatened for the first time is nothing to be ashamed of." Dick continued, as if she had never said anything. 

Getting out of there, Marinette drove them directly to her house. She wasn't really affected as her siblings seemed to believe she was but she still would appreciate some quiet time. 

"I promise, I'm alright. Plus this isn't the first time, I've been directly involved with a villain calm down."

She probably shouldn't have said the last part because now they were all panicking. "I just mean that I've been caught up in akuma attacks before."

"But directly involved."

Marinette sighed. "There was this guy who had a crush on me and he was akumatized after which he asked me out a date. It was fun actually but then he found out I was acting as decoy and lost it. Plus a few more times."

They all stared at her.   
"I'm gonna need the full story later." Stephanie finally spoke up and she grinned and have her a nod. 

"Come to the manor." Cass spoke up. "We are worried."

"But I'm fine."

"Maybe but Alfred, Tim and Damian haven't seen you yet and I'm sure Bruce will want to talk to you." Dick coaxed. "You know they'll show up here if you don't come. Plus, you haven't seen Alfred since you arrived, have you? Please, we can give you a tour of the Batcave too."

She sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll come by the manor later but right now I need some me-time. Does that work?"

"We'll take it." He seemed to understand that she wouldn't budge.


	8. Chapter 8

Marinette had felt an uneasiness from the moment the others had left. 

She decided to meditate to find out what it was. What she did realize, she wasn't afraid to admit, made her panic. 

She would recognize that twisted soul. Marinette only hoped she would make it there in time. 

~

Bruce was not having a good day. 

First Marinette had been held at gun-point by a villain and while she had dealt with the situation beautifully, he regretted bit having been able to talk to her.

But that - that was nothing compared to what was happening to his youngest.  
They were outnumbered and while that usually didn't matter, this time he had to admit he didn't know how to get out of this. 

This had been a planned attack. They only striked once everyone was in the house. Bruce hated to admit that he hadn't seen any of the signs nor had any of his children. 

He didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse though, that the old man decided to try and possess his son right there - he wanted Damian to kill them with his own hands. 

On one hand, it gave them time to work out something but on the other hand, if he didn't figure something out, he would be doomed to watch his son suffer until the light faded from his eyes. 

And he hated to admit it - still looking for a way to get them all out of this unharmed - but today wasn't likely to end well for them…

In a very dramatic fashion, the door opened with a bang interrupting Ra's monologue. 

"What the fuck is going on here?" Shit. His blood froze. 

"Damnit! I forgot we told her to come." He heard Dick mutter while Jason started to fight harder against the chains wrapped around him.

Marinette was standing there, looking tired and so done. At least, she knew their identities which means that she might be able to figure out that she needed to get out of there stat.

"Marinette." The current problem of his life scowled and wait…

"Ra's." His daughter deadpanned. What?  
How did she know him?

Marinette's eyes zeroed on her little brother and she cursed, striding foward to him. 

Strangely enough, no one stopped her except Ra's himself.   
"I thought I told you to stay away from my people." She growled. "Do you need a reminder?"

"But this is neither your city nor part of your claimed ones Guardian." 

"Wanna bet?" It was official. Bruce had no idea what the fuck was happening. 

~

"He's my grandson." The Demon's head hissed, sounding more like a child than Jason had ever heard him. He looked like he was going to throw a tantrum. 

"Well he's my brother." Marinette revealed and if he wasn't currently bound by chains, he would have laughed at the sour look Ra's sported in that instant. 

"You cannot just claim anyone just because I want-"

"I'm not." Marinette's voice was wry. "Damian is my brother, has been since the moment he was born. Bruce Wayne is my blood father too." 

Ra's looked pissed and kind of...defeated too. What the hell was Marinette? He had heard him call her Guardian but that title didn't ring any bells. 

Quicker than Jason could follow, she stepped back just in time to avoid a dagger. It would have killed her, he realized and the Lazarus in him urged him to kill whoever did that - to protect her. 

But it seemed like he didn't have to. 

"You're fooling no one Talia." She called out, her eyes not straying from Ra's. "Get down from there. You look ridiculous.*

The woman dropped down and...since when had she been here? Jason had thought it was strange that she wasn't been here but he had been a little busy to put much thought into it. 

"You know I had very little respect for you but you lost even that when you let him try and possess your son." 

"How dare you? You insolent child-"

"Talia." Surprisingly Ra's was the one who stopped her. 

Marinette looked amused. "Yes, listen to Daddy." And Jason would readily admit that he was enjoying this especially when Talia just growled but did nothing. 

Yet again, he wondered who the hell was Marinette for her to get this treatment from the fucking League of Assassins.

Damian gasped and coughed and Marinette went back to serious in a second. He could see why, the kid was in a horrible state. "Now, will you give me my brother or should I take him?"

"And how will you take him? You don't have all your godlings with you." He smiled and Jason felt the urge to punch his face in renew. "And last I heard, you were kidnapped so maybe I overestimated your worth."

"No." Marinette was still strangely calm. "I survived three Miraculous users when I didn't have mine with me."

Hers? She was a Miraculous user?

"Meanwhile, what have you been doing?"  
Marinette's stance shifted and with it, so did the entire atmosphere of the room.   
"I grow tired of your games. I'm not asking Demon's Head, I'm telling you. Leave or I will remove you."

Jason could see that he wasn't going to go out without a fight and apparently Marinette saw it too. 

She sighed. "Wyazz." A tiny green turtle flew out from somewhere and went towards Damian. Ra's made a move towards it but then he froze and Jason could see the familiar green if the Lazarus pits surrounding him and Talia. Marinette raised a hand and a bit of the green swirled towards her and Jason could do nothing more but watched spellbound as Ra's started looking older and wounds started to appear on Talia. 

"I have only grown stronger since the last time we met." She grinned toothily at him and Ra's fell to his knees. 

It was like the entire room held their breath as his sister looked down upon the old man. "The only reason you're still breathing-" Marinette said conversionally. "-is because you've learnt first hand not to underestimate me and I'm a little busy to teach whoever would take over for you that lesson again. Capisce?" 

She didn't wait for an answer and without further ado went to Damian.   
"Leave." The voice thundered across the manor though she had barely whispered and the League wasted no time to obey, starting with Ra's himself, helped by Talia.

Jason felt vindicated but another part of him craved answers. However, it seemed like they would have to wait until at least Marinette was sure Damian was alright. And well as much as he needed to understand, he wouldn't have it any other way - afterall the brat was his brother too. 

Marinette was kneeling, Damian's head in her lap and she had a hand hovering over his face - her eyes closed.   
But then she started foward and gasped, suddenly pale and worried. "Tikki his life force is still waning." A red little creature zoomed out and hovered near them. 

"Marinette." Bruce growled and his daughter spared a glance at them. "Trixx, take care of them." She asked distractedly and another of those little floating creatures came out. This one looked like a fox. Marinette said something else but he was too busy watching the orange thing dart towards his chains for a few seconds before they fell off. He moved to do the same to the others and Jason shook his head, turning back to focus on his sister's conversation. 

"-only way is to take his life from Hades himself." 

Marinette gave the little red creature a bitter smile. "It's not like I'm not used to death." 

Her words seemed to be a trigger of some sort, all the lights in the room was suddenly sucked out, leaving only those alive glowing - Jason guessed that they would look a bit like ghosts to any outsiders. 

The most converning thing however, was that there was now a man standing in front of Marinette, in Damian's shadow. 

"You called?"

"Felix." Marinette didn't smile nor was her voice fond. She seemed tired actually but something - he couldn't out his finger on what - something betrayed that there was something more about these two. 

"I need my brother back." She didn't beat around the bush. The man frowned and crouched down, pressing a hand to Damian's forehead. He was gorgeous, pale, blonde with eyes so blue they would send shivers down someone's back and especially not how one would assume the supposed God of the Dead would look like. 

"You know I would not deny you anything my life, but this one has already died once. Thanatos won't agree to give his soul back again - not even to me." 

"But he might to me." She said and the man smiled, soft and fond. "If anyone can convince him - it would be you Persephone. You two have always been close. No one can understand Death like Life."

"I'm not Persephone right now."  
Marinette smiled for the first time since that conversation began and the man rose, his eyes not straying from her. "You will always be Persephone but until you regain your right place, I will be Felix to you." He placed a hand on her head. "Your family is a strange one my dear. You better bargain with Thanatos for them all as well." That seemed to shock her, for the first time since she arrived, her gaze went to all of them - a deep frown settling over her face but she didn't say anything and instead look back up to the man she had addressed as Felix. 

He seemed to understand her silent question and leaned forward and pressed their lips together in a kiss. 

Jason could see Bruce restraining himself from jumping at the man. He smirked - he loved his new sister even thought kind of wanted to shoot the man too. 

The blonde finally pulled away and Marinette immediately looked down.   
"Patience my love. His soul is back but you will need to care for him and heal what the enchantment has done to him."

She nodded, stroking the little boy's head. "Thank you Felix." She sounded pained. 

The man simply offered her a hand to pull her up. "What did you offer Thanatos?"

"Life." There was a melancholy to her that he didn't understand but it seemed like the man she called Felix did. 

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "It seems like an eternity but knowing that you'll one day again return to me makes it all worth it." His words were so earnest and echoed with such pain, it almost made Jason sick. 

Once again, the question made itself known in his head. What was Marinette?

Felix bent down and carried Damian bridal style shifting him into Marinette's arms. "Farewell for now." 

And just like he came, he was gone, leaving everything like it previously was and Jason could breathe again. 

While the man was here, Jason could see and hear and feel everything, but something held him in place, the sense of dangerous foreboding overcasting any other feeling that froze him in one place. 

As expected, Bruce was the first one to break. "What the hell was that?"

She looked annoyed and having firsthand witnessed what she was capable of, Jason shuddered.   
"That was me saving your asses."

"How do you know Ra's?" He demanded relentless. "Who was that-that man?"

Mari ignored his questions. "You shouldn't have been able to see him...unless...unless you've died first."  
She seemed to come at a realisation and looked at them again. It seemed like she was staring through their souls. 

"Marinette dammit -" 

"I've brought back your youngest son from the hands of death." She stared his down. "Literally." She muttered the last word. "Do you not think that your questions can wait until he wakes up?"

He could almost hear Bruce fighting with himself and rolled his eyes.   
At that moment, Damian groaned and that seemed to be it. Bruce nodded, accepting her words while Dick rushed over to their youngest sister to look over their youngest brother. 

"Kaalki." She sounded tired. "Please open a portal back to my house." Another of those little creatures zoomed out, this one was a horse.

"We have everything he could need here." Bruce interrupted and as much as he hated it, he had to admit that he had a point. 

"Except magical protection." Marinette corrected. "My house has protections of it's own. It's the most protected place in Gotham, even more than here. It's what he needs after what he went through."

Bruce clenched his jaw and the bluenette sighed. "You're welcome to come with me now or drop by later as long as you don't disturb him. "

A blue swirling portal appeared and Marinette walked through without waiting for an answer. Jason looked at Bruce who looked like he was about to burst then at Dick who he knew without a doubt was going to go with Damian and followed into her the portal. 

This was going to be a long day.


	9. Chapter 9

Marinette hadn't left Damian's side and to anyone who asked she said that she would tell the whole story only once but the several creatures werre flying around freely now. Well they were subtle but now that they knew they existed, the bats could catch sight of them pretty easily.

Damian became agitated everytime Marinette left so she had ended up just camping next to him. The creatures - kwamis Marinette had said they were called - brought her food and drinks without her even needed to ask for it. 

They fretted over the girl and checked upon Damian and Dick had to admit, it was pretty darn adorable to see.   
There was clearly great trust between the creatu-kwamis and Marinette. It was incredible to see the rapport they had. 

Damian had been asleep for hours and by then all of his siblings had migrated to Mari's house and all of the boys were in fact in the room with them. 

Which was why they were there to witness when Marinette's phone turned red and started blaring AKUMA. 

Marinette sighed and looked towards the ceiling like she was asking for strength before she clicked on the screen. 

"-at the Effiel Tower. The akuma seems to be elemental based." Marinette frowned. "Guess it's going to have to be elemental vs elemental. Tikki." 

She looked up and Tikki zoomed in.   
"I need to go take care of this but I need you to remain here to look after Damian. He'll be bad enough with me gone."  
The kwami didn't argue and Marinette smiled. "Any preference?"

The little Goddess giggled. "You know who you need to chose."

She didn't reply and instead started removing her earrings as she walked towards Tim. "May I?" He looked confused but nodded and Marinette pinned them to this shirt. 

"Everything should be fine." She said putting on a pair of glasses. "But if something does happen, you need to protect those with your life."

The brothers had given up trying to understand anything about her until she finally explained and just nodded and went along with it. 

"And Jason you need to remain here until I come back. If he wakes up, he'll recognize you easier because of your essence. It'll give him something familiar and prevent him from panicking."

Meanwhile Marinette had opened a portal and stepped through. She needed to make a detour to her apartment to get the dragon miraculous before heading to the battle. 

~

"So it's safe to assume that she is Ladybug?" Tim broke the silence, talking to the red Kwami. 

"Yes." The kwami zommed around his head. "And I'm Tikki, the ladybug Kwami."

"I thought that only Ladybug could purify the akuma, how will she manage without you?"

She hummed. "Oh she can take care of the akuma by herself, it's just that she'll need to bring the butterfly back here so that I can purify it."

Tim stared at her. "Uh huh." He ran a hand over his face. "I didn't think my life could get crazier." He muttered. "And my best friends include a Kryptonian, a speedster and an Amazon."

Tikki was about to say something but she was interrupted by Damian jolting up in the bed, his eyes greener that ever. Like Marinette had said he would be, he was disoriented and as Dick tried to each out to him, he took out a knife from God knows where and threw it at him.   
Had it not been for his quick reactions, he would have been dead. 

The little demon spawn had scrambled to his feet although it was clear he was sluggish and seemed to be looking a way to escape. "Jason grab him." Tim said, his eyes not leaving the little boy. 

Who knows what he would be capable of doing in such a state? Jason, for once didn't argue and did as he was told. 

Again, Marinette seemed to have correctly predicted the situation. The boy froze at once. "Todd?" He asked shakily. 

"Yeah it's me Demon Spawn." He walked slowly towards his youngest brother, hands outstretched to show that he wasn't a threat. 

"Where am I?"

"We're all at Mari's place." He said as he slowly pushed the boy down back into the bed. 

"Where is she?" His voice was small and this was one of the rare time he actually felt like a child. 

"There was an akuma." Then he promptly realized that Damian wouldn't know what he was talking about. "When you were unconscious, we found out that she was Ladybug when she saved all of our asses. She went to take care of a situation in Paris, she'll be back soon."

"Okay." He whispered and Tim could see him tightening his hold on Jason. "Okay."

~

Damian hadn't gone back to sleep but he hadn't responded to any of them except Jason. It was almost like they weren't there. Dick wished Marinette would be back soon. They all did and sitting around like this wouldn't help anyone. 

He remembered that Marinette had been listening to a news forecast and took out his phone to try and find it.   
Fortunately it wasn't that difficult. 

"-ma is only a three year old child who was upset over his favourite series ending. He was called the Avatar. Here we see the Lady of Paris with what seems to be the dragon miraculous along with the child and his parents." 

Tim watched over his shoulder, Damian hadn't moved and since he had trapped Jason the latter didn't move either the the older boy was definitely listening. 

Marinette wore an uncharacteristically somber face especially since she had won the battle as she handed the baby to his father. "I'm sorry."

They were confused - why was she apologizing? But then the mother started shouting. "How can we live like this? Children don't even have the right to be upset! How will we raise our children this way? Why haven't you stopped this yet?" Their sister said nothing, just stood there and took the harsh words until the woman's shouts transformed into sobs and she collapsed to the heroine's arms. 

Marinette caught and held her up effortlessly. "Finish this." The woman almost begged. "Please end this."

"I will." She raised her eyes and looked directly into the lens of the camera and each of the boys felt like ice was crawling over them. "Soon, they will pay."

~

A portal opened up out of nowhere and the boys straightened up. They had been joined by literally everyone else - the girls, Bruce and even Alfred. 

Damian still acted like he couldn't hear or see the others except Jason and even the latter had to have some sort of physical contact with him to respond. 

It was unsettling.   
So they were all relieved when Marinette came back, hopefully she would know what to do. Those who had watched the video however were a bit worried for her. 

She walked through the portal still in the armored costume they had seen her in on the news and almost immediately, Tikki zoomed to her, beaming. "That was fast."

Before Marinette could reply however, Damian lunged faster than anyone could anticipate - well anyone except Marinette it seems because the next thing they knew Marinette was at the edge of the bed hugging Damian and to their surprise the boy was clutching her as tightly back, not attacking her.

"Well hello there little bird." She crooned. "You scared us for a moment there. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up."  
But the boy just tightened his grip around her and Marinette didn't object, just tried to hide her wince. She didn't do it very successfully - the boy pulled back to look at her. "You're hurt."

"It's alright. Nothing bad." She tried to reassure him but Longg decided that this was the perfect time to detransform and interrupt. "I wouldn't call being stabbed by an icicle nothing bad." He huffed. 

Marinette threw him a dark look as the room exploded with exclamations of concerns, none more so worried than her little brother. "It didn't go through me - it's just a scratch and you know it." She looked at the dragon Kwami sternly and he huffed, smoke coming out of his nostrils. "I must still insist that you take care of it."

She looked down at her baby brother who nodded silent and she sighed, knowing she wasn't going to win and nodded towards the Kwami. "Eat something while you're at it. We still need to purify the butterfly."

The red god didn't wait another moment before speeding out. Marinette turned her attention to her brother, pulling him to take a seat on the bed with her. 

"So tell me, what do you see?"   
He frozen up and Marinette treaded her her fingers through his hair until he relaxed. "It's dark." He finally spoke up and Marinette hummed encouragingly. "I can't see anything." He rushed out, not wanting to speak that truth out loud. 

"But you can see something. How else did you know it was me." She pushed softly. "I can see these...it looks like glowing smoke? And there's these little balls of light that keep flying around - I can't look at them for long because it burns my eyes and well I...just...I just knew when I saw you who you were."

"What you're seeing are auras Dames." She told him gently. "You just came back from the dead...again...this is you getting used to this world again. The only way you can start seeing again if you forget about darkness. Concentrate on anything else. Talk to me."

Sass chose this moment to come in. "Longg sent me to make sure you took care of yourself Mari." He dropped the first aid kit next to her and looked at her expectantly. 

She sighed and was about to reach for it when Alfred intervened. "Let me." 

She saw as all the kwamis in the room froze up. "It's okay. I trust him. He won't hurt me." She spoke in the language of Guardians. "And well if you don't believe me - look, he holds remenants of Dussu's energy and it isn't corrupted." She saw them startle over this new information and nodded at Alfred, pulling her shirt over her head. 

She was so thankful that she had taken to wearing almost only sport bras. It didn't leave her entirely uncomfortable in this situation…

The whole room gasped as one - she didn't know whether it was because of her scars of her tattoos. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know so she straightened up, giving Alfred access to take care of her wound when he got over her shock and turned her focus on the only person who couldn't see her scars. 

He was frowning. "How many people are here?" 

She smiled, he was trying to see what he could figure out even now. "Everyone." She said simply and though it wasn't very visible, he wilted slightly. Marinette didn't mention it and let his take the lead.   
His frown deepened and he licked his lips before speaking again. "Jason…" he trailed off. Thankfully, she understood what he meant. 

"The reason you were able to sense Jason was because you've both been in the Lazarus pits. The waters, however impure they might be are still magic and they've linked you."

She heard Jason inhale sharply. "How did you know that I've been in the Lazarus pits?" 

"You reek of it." She said off-handedly. "You should really take some time to learn how to get it's madness under control. You were close to snapping earlier. You would have actually - had I not been there." 

"What do you mean control it? You can't control it. It takes over you."

Marinette knew it wasn't right but she was tired and so she couldn't help but feel a little amused. "And who told you that - Ra's? Talia? Jason, they have way more demons than you. The things Ra's has seen over the years...The man isn't completely sane but he's not insane either - if he hadn't learn to control the madness, he would have been his own doom a long time ago." 

The poor boy seemed shocked. "I-but-how do you know all of this?" He finally settled on a question.

She smiled at Tikki and the little Kwami winked. "I am the Guardian of the Miraculous." She said. They probably had guessed it already but she was giving them confirmation now. "As such I know everything that has to do with them. A long long time ago, something terrible happened to the Miraculous holders, I won't go too much into detail but it was bad enough that both Tikki and Plagg - creation and destruction kwamis wept. Their tears are essentially the Lazarus pits. Tikki's creation gives life and Plagg's destruction the madness."

She looked back at Jason "I could teach you if you'd like." 

His mouth suddenly felt dry. This...he had never thought this possible. "Please." His voice cracked. 

Marinette simply smiled gently at him before turning back to their youngest sibling. 

This was going to be a long day indeed.


	10. Chapter 10

"You're crazy." Her brother's voice was amazed. "How you even managed to pull off half of these plans is beyond me." 

"My power is literally luck Timmy." Her family had taken to just gather in her living room under a blanket fort to watch her battles on loop.   
They were currently watching LB'S MOST DANGEROUS STUNTS ignoring her protests on the matter. 

The last clip was shown and everyone in the room fell deadly silent, she shrunk back behind Damian and prayed so that Kaalki would open a portal beneath her and that she could escape them.

"Did you seriously willingly fucking jump into a T-Rex's mouth?" 

"I uh plead the fifth." She said when they wouldn't stop staring at her. The room exploded in an uproar and she again unsuccessfully tried to hide behind her baby brother. 

Damian scoffed at her. "You are aware this is doing nothing to hide the truth, right?" 

"I can wish." She struck her tongue out at him. "Plus hey! I just healed out so that you can go out fighting whenever and don't have to spend one month benched and this is how you repay me?" Marinette clutched her chest, false betrayed. 

The boy simply rolled his eyes at her but she could see the slight upturn of his lips. 

The calm atmosphere was interrupted with a phone call. "It's Alfred." Jason frowned. "They need backup."

Damian went get up but Marinette held him back. "What?" He asked. 

The boys turned to look at them. "You're not coming Demon."

"But I am fully healed." He turned his attention to his sister. "You said my condition was good enough to fight."

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should." She said calmly.   
"What's the situation?" 

"Some Rogues have banded together for something."

"Then I must go!"

"I hate to admit it." Tim sighed. "But the brat's right. Can you come too Mari? You and Damian can stay out of it and only step in if we look like we really need help. But I don't think we can take any risk with this."

"I'm willing but you guys are going to be the ones to explain to Bats why I broke his no meta rule."

"Deal Pixie."

They hurried to suit up and for not having magical suits, Marinette was impressed by how fast they were. 

"Is that...a fox outfit?"

She had indeed chosen Trixx for this. Her suit was black with accents of white and a hood and she knew for a fact that outside, she would slink right in the shadows. 

"Ladybug can't be seen in Gotham and well what else is bat but a flying fox." She winked as she set upon opening a portal. 

Kaalki made sure to teleport them out of sight and while she and Damian went to find a good vantage point, the others joined the fray. 

It didn't take long for them to realise that it was a trap. Damian made a move to rush forward but Marinette stopped him again. 

"Let me go. They won't last long without backup. They'll get captured too."

She smiled at him. "Sometimes frontal assault is not useful. If we go in there like that, we're not gonna be able to help much."

"What then, did you have in mind." 

"Let's make your assassin training useful. I'm going to camouflage you and provide a distraction if necessary. Go free the others." She raised her flute to her lips and played, inclining her head down. 

The distraction, as it turned out, was not necessary until Damian had already freed the others and they made themselves known. 

Before the fight could start up again though, Marinette jumped down, using the illusions to hide herself and took care of them before they could even realize she was there. 

From what she could see, all the vigilantes in Gotham were there, including those she hadn't met yet. Marinette released her hold on the illusions. 

Her father appeared to be scowling though she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of the cowl. She knew very well how some clothes could distort the perception of a person and she was willing to bet that Bruce counted on that fact everytime he stepped into his cowl. 

She kept her eyes on her father and not the other vigilantes that she hadn't been introduced to yet even if they were clearly trying to assess her. 

Finally, he stopped their staredown. "Thank you M-" 

"People just tend to call me Lady when I'm in costume or there would be too many names to remember."

He nodded his acknowledgement. "Very well Lady. Thank you for the assist."

The boy, Signal - Duke if she wasn't wrong interrupted. "Did you adopt another one while I was away?"

She turned her smile to him and Batwoman. "I'm biologically his, I'm afraid."

Batwoman, Kate Kane, she guessed snorted. "And you've known about this one for how long?" 

"Since the beginning." She spoke again before her father could interrupt. "The choice to hide me away was his this time."o

"And yet you still managed to somehow become a superhero, huh?"

She let herself smirk and knew the shadows converged on her. "Nature versus nurture. I suppose nature wins once again."

Batwoman barked out a laugh. "I think I'm gonna like you."   
She simple smiled. 

Signal on the other hand was watching the shadows with intruiged. "So are you a meta?"

She hesitated. "It's complicated but I would love to talk to you about it more - just not here."

She took a few steps back. "Robin." She called out and he nodded, understanding her directives. 

She sheathed her flute and turned her head to look directly into a camera. "I look forward to meeting you too Oracle." 

The next thing the rest knew, was that Damian and her had faded into the shadows. 

~

When the others were finally done and got back to her place, they found her meditating with Damian, several kwamis nestled either on or near her. 

There was a dark red aura around her and a green one around Damian and they were both reaching towards each other. Damian's however was pulsing with something. It looked like lightning, green toxic lightning. 

They all froze even though no one but Jason immediately recognissed it as the Lazarus influence. 

"The first time the lazarus waters was used on you, you weren't even a child." Marinette's kwami spoke. "This is why you do not get bursts of madness, it is ingrained in you, it has it roots deep and spread out. But that being said, it is why you can control it easier. It manifests itself in bursts of anger but you can easily control it. What is less easy but - make no mistake - still feasible is uprooting them and protecting you from it. You cannot change your aura just like you cannot take a part of your life and erase it. Our experiences shapes our identity. However, you can choose how you let your experiences shape you. Similarly, you can choose how it will affect your aura. Instead of letting it fester, you must take care of it while it is still a bud. Remember and accept the past and wield it to take shape as you want it to. The Lazarus though corrupted is a powerful magic, one of the most powerful magic there is. You can use it to shield yourself, to shield your aura. It will protect you from other magic."

They watched entranced as Damian's aura pulsed and changed shape. The lighting cackled as he pulled them together before letting them run wild. They surged everywhere and rose above his aura, looking like a shield trying to form but it didn't look like he would succeed. The Lazarus influence was fighting. 

But then Marinette's red seemed to get brighter and almost like smoke it went towards Damian, eveloping him. The lighting crackled but it seemed to settle as Marinette coaxed it into becoming a shield. It seemed to absorb some of her aura and they could clearly see the difference in Damian's before and after. 

When he opened his eyes, he seemed dazed but also…  
"I feel -" There was a very obvious quiver in his voice. 

"Calm?" Marinette supplied.

"-not angry." He finished and he himself seemed in disbelief about that fact - like he had gone all his life being angry and that had become normal to him. It was like releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding. 

Marinette's heart broke a little and she reached out to pull him into a hug, ruffling his hair and he sighed, letting himself fall in her hold.

~

"Can I ask you something?" After they had seen her work with Damian, Jason had asked her to help him too. Immediately. 

For him, the Lazarus pits weren't as deeply buried but that also meant that he couldn't shape it to his will and use it to protect himself. The most Marinette could help him with was to show him how to protect himself from the twisted magic. As for other similar magic, the Lazarus was possessive, it would not let another touch what he had claimed. 

It had been an exhausting night and they were all once again just relaxing in her living room though each one was doing their own thing. 

"About?"

"Something you said to Ra's Al Ghul." Though no one moved, it was clear that they had all turned their attention to Marinette's and Tim's conversation. 

The bluenette had a feel as to where this was going and well she didn't like it, she never would like talking about it but she supposed that she would have had to tell them the truth sooner or later. 

She hummed waiting for him to continue. "You said you survived three miraculous users when you didn't have one of yours."  
She could basically see the moment the others realised what that entailed as they stopped bothering to even pretend like they weren't listening. 

She sighed and took a deep breath, bracing herself. Knowing what was coming didn't make this conversation an easier one.   
"How much do you know about what happened to me?"  
She didn't have to clarify when.   
"We read the police records."

"Ok." She exhaled shakily. "Ok. So by the time The Incident happened, I had already been living by myself. Chat Noir had been a bigger nuisance around that time, making my fights more difficult than if he wouldn't have been there and I was working part-time jobs because Tom and Sabine threw me out plus keeping up with my studies. I was perpetually exhausted and it just really wasn't a good time for me. I got sloppy and I didn't notice him until it was too late." 

"Who Marinette?" But her gaze had turned unfocused, it was like she hadn't heard him speak. 

"I had guessed there was something wrong with him for some time now. He had always creeped me out, not respecting my boundaries so I guess I wasn't really surprised when it came to it. It was luck honestly that he didn't take my earrings off as soon as he knocked me out but I suppose, he didn't think I would have been able to do anything. I think what saved me was that he attacked me in the middle of the day and the hero of Paris couldn't be seen with an unconscious girl who was soon going to go missing. He had to be careful as he transported me to the warehouse. It took enough time that I managed to regain consciousness. The bindings he had tied me up with were magic, something that I would not have been able to talk my way out if someone asked how I got out. So I ordered Tikki to take the earrings and go back to the miracle box to follow her judgement to keep the others safe at all costs, even if she had to draw out power from me to do that. It was stupid - I don't regret it because had they found the earrings it would have been a disaster but I hadn't thought that they would take it this far."

It was scary how emotionless her voice was but she was crying. Damian reached out to hold her hand and let it remain there even if she gave no impression that she felt it. 

"Hawkmoth had found out the identity of Chat Noir and had offered him what he desired the most. He talked to me while I was there, said that the world was unfair but that Hawkmoth wasn't a bad guy, he just wanted his wife back and couldn't I just give in, help bring back his mother. It wasn't long before I figured out his identity. My mind was guarded so they tried to break me. I used to wear ribbons when I was younger, wear my hair in pigtails. He sent an akuma through them to possess me. I stopped wearing my hair like that after the incident. Giving in wasn't an option of course, I had way too many secrets to keep. I was...in a catatonic state really. Because I needed to fight Hawkmoth in my head which meant I couldn't focus on anything else. Everytime Hawkmoth had to give out, it was taken over by an amok of Volpina, she made me face my hell. But when I still wasn't giving in, they just told him to do whatever it took to break me, make me lose focus at least."

She absently started tracing her skin on her stomach. Though none of them could see it then, they all remembered her scars. 

"If I had let go of my focus to fight back, he wouldn't have been able to touch me. That was a choice I made. I was concious of what was happening. I remember everything. I hate it, I can't say I don't regret it but I won't say I do either. The alternative would have been so much worse."

She took a shuddering breath in. And then she was hyperventilating. 

Tikki, sending her holder's distress was not far. She reached out to touch her forehead and Marinette slumped unconscious on Damian. 

"She prefers not to think about it. It was a heavy price she paid, we owe her so much for that." She caressed the young girl's hair. 

"Tikki." Tim said hesitantly and the tiny Goddess smiled indulgently. "I will tell you the rest but do not ask her again."

No one had any intention of putting her through that again so it wasn't hard to agree. 

"Kwamis cannot disobey the orders of their holder. When the miraculous were made, we made it so intentionally. It was to stop ourselves from falling to our own hubris but it was never intended to be used like Hawkmoth does to control us and reduce us to nothing but slaves. We had faith in humanity but I suppose I underestimated my own creations. Our holders were always meant to be like Marinette. She has only once ordered me since we've met and it was on that day - to protect me. Another thing you need to know is that the wish comes with a price. The scales must be righted. If they wished to bring someone back to life, all those people who that person would have made a difference to would be the price. Whether be it they gave someone a smile or whether they bumped into someone and made them trip."

That was a horrifying concept to grasp. It made them understand the weight of Marinette's responsibilities a bit more. 

"By her words I was bound, I couldn't even leave the apartment - that is until her friends came looking for her. Her orders were to trust my judgement to keep everyone safe so I used that loophole. When her friends didn't find her they called for a search and eventually tried to reach out to Ladybug. I got Trixx - that's the fox kwami of illusion - to make an image of Ladybug. We told them that we would look and we did because the best way to keep everyone safe was to find her. Despite not being a true holder, Hawkmoth's magic is extensive and without our true holders ours was limited. So it took some time to find her and we veered the search towards her."

The little goddess stopped and she was almost glowing. They could feel that she was angry. 

"When we found her, she was - it was a wonder she was alive, let alone sane. I've had holders be tortured before. None of them come out unscathed, Marinette is no exception. I went to her as soon as I could, she didn't waste anytime tell her the name of her attackers but she wouldn't tell anyone else because she didn't think they would believe her. "

"Surely, they would have believed her, especially if Ladybug backed her up and since by that point Chat Noir had already lost favour?"

"The authorities in Paris know who did it even if she never explicitly told them. She woke up screaming too many time for them not to know. They discussed it with us, there was really no safe way to take his miraculous away." 

Tikki started shaking in rage.   
"What really convinced her not to tell anyone though was that she did tell her parents. They blamed her for it. Now see, there was this time Chat Noir caught her just after she detransformed, so she panicked and said that she was there to watch the akuma fight because she was worried about him and had a crush on him. Tom and Sabine thought that she had tempted him into this. That what Lila had said was right and that she went willingly. "

Her rage was mirrored in the others.

"Her friends were the one who helped her recover. Our previous master came back. He had forsaken all of his memories when he went away but he still sees her as a granddaughter. Many people she had previously helped as Marinette reached out too and I asked for the help of one of my previous holders. She healed. She didn't have any other choice."

Tikki stroked Marinette's hair.   
"She had to work for it though. She still struggles sometimes but she reinvented herself. She got her tattoes so hide the scars and generally became more distrustful. She has come out of it stronger and I couldn't be more proud. " 

Everyone was thinking the same thing - but she shouldn't have had to go through that. 

"Tikki." Jason asked, his voice cold and his brothers shuddered knowing that this was him at his most dangerous. His eyes were Lazarus green even if he was this time in control.

"Who is Chat Noir?"  
The Goddess didn't want to tell them, because they would try to get to him and her holder wouldn't want her family in danger. 

It was Damian who answered.   
"Adrien Agreste."

Everyone turned to look at him in shock. He met the Godess' eyes evenly. "Am I wrong?"

She shook her head in negative to but didn't see anything.   
Damian simply nodded and looked down at his sister in his lap. 

"Then," Bruce said. "Gabriel is Hawkmoth and Natalie Mayura." 

It didn't have to be said, they were all thinking the same thing.

The Agrestes would pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas. I working on the last chapter. Hopefully I can get it to you soon.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Fair warning: This chapter contains overexageration and the characters may be OOC. Read at your own risk.]

When Batman walked into the Justice League that day, he looked bone weary. Everyone knew not to expect good news.

He slumped in his chair, as much as Batman would, which wasn't much, but which over the years the original Leaguers had come to associate with the fact that something had happened in relation to his children. 

This was either going to be very entertaining or really hard on the soul. 

"What did the little ones do now?" Diana asked as she took her seat next to him. 

In response, Batman just sighed deeply. "What didn't they do?"   
At least, Batman didn't seem too worried so it couldn't be all that bad. But then he straightened up and watched Superman with narrowed eyes. 

The Princess of Themiscyra looked on amused as Superman started fidgeting and Batman finally spoke. "Kal-El you fucking deserve to be punched with my Kryptonite brass knuckles."

"What did I do?" 

"You will see soon enough." He said darkly and he didn't take long to realise that his friend wasn't joking. 

The leaguers soon took their seats one by one until everyone was there. Then Batman stood up and all the attention went to him.

"There's an grave series of events that have slipped our notice for years due to one of our member's carelessness. "

He didn't have to precise who.   
All turned their eyes toward Superman as one and he shifted uncomfortably.

Batman pressed a button and a video started to play. He had, with Marinette's help, compiled several akumas' footage who had different levels of danger. 

It was a horrifyingly spectacle especially since it only progressively got worse. 

"So, Superman." Batman broke the horrified silence. His voice was hard and emotionless. "Can you tell us why you decided that this was to be ignored?"

"The first footages sent clearly looked to be fake." He said defensively. "I did run tests to see if it was CGI and I flew to Paris myself to check and I investigated for several days but there was no evidence of anything ever happening. I read the reports about the so-called attacks and...it was way too far-fetched to be true. So I wrote it off as a publicity stunt. It's after all not the first time, we've been sent fake aid requests. What brought this up anyways?"

"So you did investigate." A young female voice was heard, before Batman could reply, but no one could pin-point from where it was coming from so several of them jumped into the defensive. 

"You're not a complete buffoon at least. I will grant you that, most things Miraculous-" Batman noticed a few members perking up at the word. "-related do seem to be completely unbelievable but it's not so out of the realm of possibilities. You are after all yourself an alien and magic jewelry is something a few of your teammates themselves have. So my question for you is simple - why did you not ask anyone more versed in magic than you to verify?"

Superman seemed unnerved. He didn't reply nor did he notice that Batman was perfectly calm.  
"Who are you? Come out!"

"If you insist."  
And in the next blink there was a young woman sitting crossed-legged in front of him. 

He jolted back and in the next instant several weapons were pointed at her. She didn't react however. Batman, though, tensed up, preparing to step in if he needed to but trusting her for the time being. She was capable and he knew it.

"Now, will you answer?" She asked sweetly. 

Superman lunged forward and tried to punch her. The woman didn't even try to move out of the way, instead she simply caught his punch effortlessly giving him an unimpressed look. 

Before any of them could do anything, Batman stood up. "That's enough." He commanded.   
"Lady come here."

The woman released his hand and obediently just slid towards Batman, still seated, all the while maintaining eye contact with Superman. 

"Justice League, this is the Lady of Paris." Batman introduced.

"Current Ladybug holder and Guardian of Miracles." She elaborated drily. Those titles didn't mean much to Batman or most of the other people in the room but some people clearly recognized it and it seemed like several of them were about to jump in but Ladybug simply raised a finger in their direction and they stilled.

She calmly turned her head towards Superman and smiled at him. "So now that we've established who I am and how much of a threat I am, would you answer the question?"

There wasn't really a good way to answer the question so Ladybug let her smile drop.   
"You can't and that's because of your own hubris Kal-El, Clark Kent, Superman." She jumped off the table, ignoring everyone's shock at her knowing who he is. "Do you even understand the consequences of your actions?" She hissed. "Let me show you. Tikki spots off."

When her transformation unraveled, there stood a young girl. Without the magic clouding their minds, they could all clearly see that she was barely a young adult. She was in civilian clothes except for a black domino mask oddly reminiscent of the bats 

Marinette planted herself in front of Superman and titled her head defiantly. "Use your fancy X-ray vision on me and tell me if I should even be alive right now."

She watched patiently as Superman's eyes jumped to Batman behind her and back to her. She knew he had seen what he wanted him to have when he choked, a horrified expression taking its place on his face. 

"You should be dead hundreds of times over." He finally said and the resounding gasps around the room told her all she needed to know. It was also too faint for normal humans to hear but she heard Batman suck in a breath. He hadn't known that. 

"Yes." She smiled coldly. "Because I have been fighting since I was 12 and I had to learn the rules of the game on my own by trial and error and I assure you that every error was immensely painful. My cure cures the damage but it does not take away memories - not without a price and for both, I have to pay it."

She could almost see the sickening realisation they were all having. "Do you know how it feels to drown a million times over? Or to burn in hellfire? And all the while, having to go through your day normally." 

He looked stricken and Marinette decided that she had been cruel enough. All the fault, afterall didn't rest on his shoulders. Hawkmoth was the first and foremost one to be blamed. 

"I'm not telling you this so that you can wallow in guilt." She softened her voice. "But so that you know not to make the same mistake again. People depend on you so your hubris will not only be your downfall but that of the whole world." When he didn't respond she smirked, "Darkseid anyone?" Several members flinched. 

"How did you even know about that?" Batman grumbled. "I know about a lot of things I shouldn't know." She winked at him before turning back to Superman. 

"That being said, I hope you'll forgive me for this." 

"For wha-" She lunged forward and punched him. The Lady of Paris fell an immense satisfaction when his face snapped back. 

"Ladybug stop!" She twirled around and grinned at the man. "I don't take orders from you Bats." It was reminder. "But I wasn't going to do anything else anyways. I've just been itching to do that." 

The man knew her to be speaking the truth and so just sighed deeply. "Why?" He asked in the most done tone ever. 

"It's cathartic really." She walked up to him and perched on the table next to him. "You don't get to do this stuff in Paris because if someone gets mad, bam they're akumatised. "Also-" She leaned forward towards him like she was telling a secret but spoke loud enough for everyone to heard. "-not everyone can say they've punched both Batman and Superman and walked away unscathed. " 

The Dark Knight shot her a look that said he knew exactly what she was doing and she smiled innocently. 

She heard someone snicker and leaned back around Batman to look at them. "So you must be Diana. The Queen Mother has told me a lot about you. She insisted that we should meet. She'll be very happy to hear that we have."

"You know my mother?" She looked a little overwhelmed. She couldn't blame her, Ladybug had afterall just admitted to having punched two of the trinity. 

"I have brunch with them once a month." She shrugged. "She was a huge help to me. I would probably have lost the war already if she hadn't insisted to train me."

The Lady of Paris was having way too much fun breaking the Justice League. 

Diana seemed to regain herself quite quickly though and she walked towards until she was in front of the Miraculous holder.   
"The Amazons are sworn to protect the Miraculous. I'm certain my mother has done this already but allow to apologise on behalf of Superman and to pledge my allegience to you." She dropped to a knee. 

Before she could say anything, Arthur Curry joined Diana on a knee. "The Atlanteans pledge themselves to you as well my lady. We are all too well aware of it's power and importance."

Ladybug watched amusedly as Shazam joined in. "I don't have an army but if you ever need my power, it is yours."

"If you ever need the help, the Lantern Corps are also sworn to protect the Miraculous."

Lastly, Constantine and Zatanna strolled up. "I don't really do the pledging thing, but I owe you."

"Yes, we've learned by now that you can be trusted to use all this power responsibly. You have us as allies as well." 

"Rise, all of you. The allegience isn't necessary but I appreciate knowing where your loyalties lie and having you as allies."

There was silence as everyone tried to digest what the fuck had just happened. Uncharacteristically, Batman was the one who broke the silence.   
"We're you ever going to tell me about this?" 

He didn't have to specify about what. "Why tell you when I can film you reaction at the whole thing?"

"Oracle?"

"Oracle."

"I should never have let you two meet."

"Like you could ever stop us."

He sighed deeply.  
"So what's the deal between you two?" Constantine was the only one mad enough to ask. 

Ladybug grinned while Batman glared. "Oh he might sigh and glare but he and the other bats would go to war for me as well. Don't let him fool you."

"You're on thin ice." He grumbled.

Before Marinette could quip back, her phone blared and she jumped down from the table, cursing.   
She switched to the news channel. 

Batman nudged her and pointed at the screen. She wordlessly swiped at her phone, the image being sent to the huge screen. 

"-seems to be meta. I repeat the akuma seems to be a young boy who has just unlocked his abilities. We have confirmed that his original abilities was to fly while his akuma-given abilities seems to be a perfect replicate of Superman."

Marinette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was going to need Sass for this. Fortunately she already had him on hand just in case something went wrong with the League.

"-his primary targets had been his parents Mr and Mrs Buroi and now his attention has shifted to destroying the city in search of something. There has been no sighting of the Lady of Paris yet."

She would also need the ladybug as he had obviously done a lot of damage already. 

"Constantine, Zatanna" She said, "Can you get me a portal? Right above him if possible." They nodded and got to work. 

Meanwhile, she merged the two kwamis and transformed. 

"I should go with you." Superman stepped it. The situation was already so stressful, she couldn't stop herself from snapping at him. "Have you understood nothing? If you come with me, I will have to worry about two berserk Supermen instead of one. You fight fuelled by your emotions, emotions that Hawkmoth specializes in manipulating. Let me do my job and stay out of this."

"And if you fail?"

"That's never been an option. But nevertheless there are contingencies. Hippolyta is my fail-safe."

She didn't wait for anyone else to object and walked forward through the portal, activating Second Chance. 

The league turned their attention back to the screen and watched as the portal formed above the boy and Ladybug fell through. 

The akuma noticed her pretty quickly though and attempted to laser her but she seemed to be anticipating all of his attacks. 

It was a feat most seasoned heroes couldn't do easily. To see her doing it so gracefully was mind-blowing. 

"The Power of the Snake Kwami is Time Reversal." Aquaman spoke reverently. "Our Lady wields it as though it was her primary power."

"What does that even mean?" Someone asked.l

"It means-" Shazam said. "-that this isn't the first time she's done this. She's lived through these events before. That's how she knows. What's impressive is that she only have seconds between the reversals to adapt her strategies."

"Moreover," Diana added. "The Miraculous themselves take a trendemous amount of energy. For her to be using two of them simultanously and for such a long time is quite a feat."

They kept their attention on the screen as she managed to knock out the akuma, using her lucky charm. 

While he was disoriented, Lady Viper ripped his shirt off along with his glasses, breaking them. 

An evilised butterfly and an amok flew out, she was quick to catch and purify them. The Lady of Paris didn't waste any time to spread her cure. 

For those seeing it for the first time, it was truly miraculous - the power of her magic. It was like nothing had ever happened there. 

Where the villain of the day previously was now sat a small sniffling boy. He had a very distinct angry handprint on his cheek. 

None of the heroes took long to guess what had happened. Needless to say, many if them were seeing red. 

They watched solemnly at the Lady of Paris sat down in front of the boy and started to talk to him.   
He seemed to be respond albeit shyly and nervously. 

The screen turned to show a couple making their way to the two. The woman called out, her voice stringent. "Oh Paul, you had us so worried! Come to Maman!"

But the boy flinched closer to Lady's side and she didn't hesitate to wrap an arm around him, placing herself between the boy and his parents. 

She said something but it was too far away for the camera to catch it but they could make a good guess judging from the look of the couple's faces.

The camera approached them and Lady turned sharply towards it. "I'm going to have to ask you to switch off the camera. I'll personally give a statement about the cause of the akuma at a later time but I will not allow you to make a spectacle of a child's life."

The respect she comandeered was apparent because the image immediately went black. 

~

The League had continued their meeting, though it was apparent, no one was invested as much in the other news. So it was good that there weren't anything very important to report. 

By the end of the meeting, there was still no word from Lady. Diana turned to Batman.   
"Is there no way to let us know what is going on?" It hadn't escaped her notice that he was worried too but she knew him and she he wouldn't do anything about it unless he was given a nudge and she was fully prepared to push. 

He hesitated and so she prodded again. "I hope she has gotten time to recuperate, it is only fair we check on her." 

She smiled as he dug out his communicator and after fidgeting with it for a few seconds, placed it on the table. 

"Lady come in." 

There was silence for a few seconds before a clearly exhausted voice piped up. "What Bats? I'm kinda in the middle of something here."

"We lost image as soon as you told the camera to cut off. We just wanted an update on how things are going on."

There was a pause. "We're at the station right now, Paul needs to give a statement against his parents."

From her voice he could guess how things were. "He too scared to say anything against his parents and he won't go near to anyone else but me." 

"You sound like you need a break too. Why don't you portal over for a few minutes?" He met Diana's eyes and she nodded. "You can bring the Paul too. Maybe Superman can convince him. "

"I don't think that's a good idea."  
But he wasn't willing to negotiate on this. If his guess was right, she shouldn't be standing right then. 

He gestured to Zatanna and she nodded, and opened a portal in front of the Lady of Paris.   
He heard her curse but then she muttered an agreement.   
"I need to inform everyone here. Hold the portal."

Less than two minutes after (which seemed to be a miracle in of itself for the other heroes especially when dealing with authorities), she walked through with the child secured in her arms. She sent a glare that could rival his to Batman and many heroes in the room shuddered. 

"Wow." The boy looked almost giddy. "You weren't lying. Ohmygod it's Superman." 

She made a beeline to the hero. "Paul you don't mind if I leave you with Superman do you? I need to talk with Batman."

The child looked at her with stars in his eyes. "I don't mind at all. Thank you Ladybug, you're soo cool, I didn't know you knew the Justice League."

She smiled kindly at him and ruffled his hair. "It's a secret." She bought a finger to her lips. "I can trust you not to tell anyone either right?"

"Of course, I'm very good at keeping secrets!" Her smiled dimmed as she thought about what secrets his parents were currently making him keep. "I don't doubt that at all. Now why don't you tell all of that to Superman." She handed the child over to him and when their eyes met, the warning in them was clear and from the nod she received, he seemed to have understood. She also slipped him a recording device for his testimony for if he was able to convince the boy to talk. 

She walked right past Batman, grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of the room with her. "What was so important that you couldn't wait until tonight?" She hissed. 

The man veered her to the lounge and made her take a seat. "You're exhausted. I just thought you could use the break."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and looking up at the standing man. "That's nothing new Bruce. It is how it is and it's not going to change now that you know. People trust me because I have made it clear to them that despite me having a civilian life, I prioritize being Ladybug. You calling me in the middle and giving me orders did not help their faith in me. So you better hope as hell that your best friend can get the kid's testimony or I'm going to lose more backing from the police."   
She was breathing heavily.   
Bruce, who by then had realised that her go to emotion was anger was calmly letting her vent. 

The other heroes who had followed her - the core justice league members and those who had sworn their allegiance to her - seemed horrified at her words. 

Finally Batman said something no one was expecting him to say.   
"Do you want a hug?"

The girl calmly stood up and called off her transformation, her kwamis making a beeline for the food she always carried on her.   
"You're terrible pops." And then she let herself fall in his arms. 

Batman took her opportunity to wrap her cape around her, shielding her from the world, hugging her tightly. 

The other members were trying to figure out what the hell had just happened - once again. 

After a few minutes, Ladybug stepped back. 

"Better?" Bruce asked. She nodded wordlessly and he nudged her to take a seat once more and kneeled in front of her. 

"I'm sorry, I called you back but you understand that I was worried about you, right?" She nodded. "I trust in your abilities but I don't know how to deal with this. The boys I can still reign in but this is out of my control. I can't help you but I thought I could at least do this. I didn't think through the consequences. Forgive me."

She leant forward and let her forehead rest on his shoulder. "It's ok Dad, but don't do it again."

"I'll try."

It was at that moment that Hal decided to interrupt. "As touching as this bonding moment is, Spooky I can't believe you adopeted another child we don't know about!?"

"I'm biological I'm afraid. I was a secret to even the others until very recently. Besides Bruce fucked up and we were temporarily estranged."  
Marinette said drily not bothering to move from where she was leaning against her father.

The day had gone better than she had thought. And just this this once, she could bask in the safety of her father's arms.


End file.
